Dark Side
by envysparkler
Summary: The only thing worse than darkness...is the light. When Raimon travel to the next victim of Aliea Academy, the mysterious Artemis Academy, they find more than they bargained for. A coach hell-bent on winning, at any cost. A girl who'd die to save her friends. And the tainting of the sport they all know and love. Welcome to the dark side of soccer.
1. Prologue

This is my first fanfic but I love Inazuma Eleven (love to the point of obsession) and can't get to sleep without watching at least one episode. But it doesn't have a lot of good girl characters so I thought up this story. I also love Hiroto and so he gets an important part. Oh and the students of Artemis Academy are all foriegn so they don't have japenese names. And gazelle is a girl in this one since she is a girl in the english dub which is what I watch.

Disclaimer:I only own my plot and OCs, I do not own Inazuma Eleven. However I would be thrilled if Level Five used my idea.

* * *

><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

**The full moon shone bright and silver over a calm night but somehow the moon seemed ice cold. Cold with grief and sorrow as if it was witness to an atrocious act, an abomination of nature, as if it could see the dark side of the world….**

Somewhere in the country of Japan, the moon's light shone on a school. It had high concrete walls covered with barbed wire enclosing the grounds; the main building was cold, grey and intimidating. It had the look of an impenetrable fortress. But strangely the walls and security didn't seem like they were keeping people out. They looked as if they were keeping people in.

In the middle of the grounds there was a soccer field on which were sixteen girls. Standing there in the moonlight they looked like avenging angels, each could contest the moon for its beauty. However, they were battered and bruised, many were clutching injured limbs and each was teetering on the brink of oblivion. They were all facing the sidelines where a women standing, half hidden in shadow. They could see the bottom of her face where the moon's light shone.

Suddenly the women smiled. But that smile radiated such horror and evil, such malevolence that the moon itself dimmed its light, shocked. The sixteen girls stood motionless, with faces so cold it looked like they were sculpted from ice.

The women spoke, it was a sweet, trilling, bell-like voice that didn't go with her smile, "That will be all for today."

"Yes, coach." The girls forced the words from their lips as if it physically pained them to do so.

The women's smile vanished, "I did not hear you."

"YES, COACH!" The girls' cold faces remained expressionless. They stood there as the coach turned around to leave. When she started walking away, the cold façade broke. Those beautiful faces radiated such agony, such suffering that all sounds of the night cut off abruptly, nature itself was cringing as it was bathed in the dark aura of those girls. Each tortured face told a life of hardship, of challenges that broke every bone in their body, of torture that made them scream till they went hoarse. Of living in the dark side of the world, the shadow that threatened to overcome them all.

Their gorgeous, agonized faces froze. The girls collapsed, one by one, the only sound, the thud of bodies on the field and the tip tap of the woman's heels striding away from the field. Even in unconsciousness the stunning faces radiated their pain and suffering. The woman still sauntered away from them, uncaring, holding a soccer ball under one arm.

* * *

><p><em>The Raimon Eleven were still in Hokkaido, waiting for Fubuki to pack and come join the Inazuma Caravan. They still had to train so that they could defeat Epsilon, Aliea Academy's first rank team. No one knew what to expect from the aliens of Epsilon so the managers were trying to find as much information as they could on Haruna's computer while the boys were having a snowball fight while waiting.<em>

**Kidou's POV:**

I came inside the warm, toasty bus and saw Aki, Natsumi, and Haruna bending over the screen, looking horrified. Coach Hitomiko was standing behind them, frowning as she watched the computer screen. I went over to see what the problem is.

On the computer screen I could see a destroyed school and a reporter who was talking about the amount of destruction in the school.

-_the secondary building has collapsed, aliens suspected_-

There was nothing out of the ordinary, Gemini Storm had destroyed a number of schools, I had assumed Epsilon would take up that job now. Then the camera cut in to some students.

-_attacks have usually been on vacant buildings however this time the building collapsed on the students of Artemis Academy_-

There were at least a hundred students taken away into the waiting ambulances as I stared at the screen sickened by the sight. How could Epsilon do this? I get that they use soccer as a weapon but before they just destroyed the soccer teams which had opted to fight, these were innocent students. My hands balled up and I started shaking with anger. How could they be so cold-blooded about destroying people's lives? Don't they have any feelings?

* * *

><p>AN: Did u like it? In the coming chapters you'll get to see the school's soccer team and a shocking secret about Kidou's past. You probably guessed that Artemis Academy was the school described in the beginning. Ohhhh... mysterious. R and R<p> 


	2. The Bait

I'm sorry for such a short chapter, I had a bunch of homework and its like 12 in the night so I am really sorry. Please forgive me and read.

Disclaimer:I only own the plot and OCs. I do not own Inazuma Eleven unless my name is Level 5, which its not.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: The Bait<strong>

**Kidou's POV:**

Riiiinnnnnng, riiiinnnng. The sound of a cell phone brought all five of us back to the real world. We all stared at Coach Hitomiko as she brought out her cell phone.

"Hello?...what?...who is this?...and you're calling now…no, absolutely not…..fine…bye." Coach slammed her phone shut with a lot of anger. Aki jumped at the loud sound it made in the empty caravan. The coach noticed us staring at her and took a deep breath and composed herself.

"We're leaving," she said as she turned to go out of the caravan. She was acting really weird.

"Oh good, Fubuki-kun, you're already here, we're leaving immediately." I heard her say from outside. The coach seemed jumpier than her usual calm self, something had got her worried and I would bet Haruna that it was from that phone call. The only question is who called her?

* * *

><p><strong>Unknown POV:<strong>

Sitting on the bench, I raised my eyes from the sight of ten girls racing around the length of the soccer field continuously, to stare at the coach. She had black hair that went down to the middle of her back and greenish blue eyes. **(A/N She looks just like Hitomiko)** She often wore a silver tank top with a outfitted black jacket cinched in the middle and wore a pair of skinny black jeans with silver heels. She was around the age of 25 and she could be classified pretty.

However, she often smiled with her I'm-going-to-destroy-you smile which naturally ruined the prettiness.

Right now, she was dialing a number on her custom made Blackberry, a gift from her father. As the person on the other end picked up, she smiled her death smile and invited the person to come over to Artemis Academy. I raised one perfect, ice cold, black eyebrow.

Our coach never invited another team to play against us, we were invincible in the game of soccer. I listened as she elaborated telling the person that she was the coach of the team and that she had something to show her. The other person must have agreed because Coach shut her cellphone, smirking. _Blackmail, it always works._

She noticed me looking at her, my one eyebrow demanding an explanation.

"That was Kira Hitomiko," I nodded, not liking where this was going as she continued, still smirking, "I invited her and her team, the Raimon Eleven, to play us to get the honor of playing Aliea Academy."

I nearly fell off my bench. "Kira Hitomiko-san? The Raimon Eleven? Honor of playing Epsilon?" I sputtered in shock. I nearly decided to ask her what in the world she was thinking but nobody talked that way to Coach Meiko. Nobody who wanted to keep their sanity.

This conversation was getting too friendly anyways, I could tell she noticed it too, "Use complete sentences, Alexandra. It is not in your place to question my decisions nor do I have to tell why I execute them. However I will give you this, you will be playing against your brother sooner than you think."

At this, I really fell off the bench. **My brother was alive?**

* * *

><p>So how was it? Horrible? Who do you think Alexandra's brother is? I'll bet a hundred bucks you'll guess wrong. Anyway, R &amp; R<p> 


	3. Epsilon's Mistake

**Floric123:** No its not Kidou, good try.

I'm sorry but this chapter has nothing to do with Epsilon's mistake, I just thought it sounded coo. I'm trying to make it into all POVs but its mainly going to be Kidou's and Alexandra's

Disclaimer: I do not own Inazuma Eleven, Level 5 does. I only own the changes to the plot and OCs

* * *

><p><strong>Epsilon's Mistake<strong>

**Kazemaru's POV:**

The Inazuma Caravan was winding its way past tall mountains to the north of Japan. We had already driven for 4 hours and everyone was starting to feel cramped. Just where was this Artemis Academy anyway? And why did we have to go there?

Beside me, Endou was sleeping, his soccer ball in his hand. In front, Kidou was frowning, thinking about something while Touko was staring out the window, clearly bored. Behind us, Kurimatsu was playing on his PSP while Megane was reading a manga novel.

On the right, the managers were hunched over Otonashi's computer whispering among themselves. Someoka was glaring daggers at Fubuki who was sitting in Gouenji's seat and looking blissfully out the window. Behind them, Domon staring at the ceiling while Ichinose was craning his neck to try to see the computer screen. Kabeyama had fallen asleep among all the luggage.

The coach seemed more preoccupied than usual, staring outside with a frown on her face. She hadn't told us why we were going to a totally unknown school. Kidou, Otonashi, Natsumi and Aki knew something about it though, I could tell by the worried looks they shot at the coach.

Ichinose noticed it too, I could see as he slumped back in his seat, shooting a glance at Kidou, giving up on looking at Otonashi's computer. Oh well, I stretched, I might as well get some sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Ichinose's POV:<strong>

Aki was staring at me, we were getting closer, closer, and our lips were almost touching when suddenly she started poking me. Then I realized it was a dream but I didn't expect to brought down to reality with an angry looking Natsumi poking me.

"Get up already! Coach has stopped for a 10 minute break." Groggily I got up and followed her out of the caravan. Everyone was outside, stretching after the long cramped ride and going to the restrooms. The majority of people were crowded around Coach Hitomiko, though.

"Just tell us why we have to go to this crappy school! We're wasting valuable time in which we could be training for our match against Epsilon." Someoka, as predicted, was frustrated and grumpy from spending 7 hours without moving.

"Fine, I'll tell you." This was definitely not predictable.

She called Otonashi over and she opened a video. It showed scenes of destruction from a school.

-_Epsilon has destroyed Artemis Academy after crushing two of their soccer teams_-

So? We didn't go half across the country when other junior high schools were destroyed. My thoughts cut off the camera focused in on the destruction.

-_estimated for nearly two hundred students in the hospital. First time Aliea Academy has done such_-

I looked up from the computer and saw the rest of the team mirroring my horrified and sickened face. How far will they taint the soccer that we love?

"This is why we are going. Epsilon has destroyed other schools but we need to find out the reason it has singled out this school for such devastation. There might be a talented player in that school." With that she turned and went back on the bus. I had a strange feeling that the coach had a completely different reason for going to Artemis Academy.

* * *

><p>AN: I know it sucked. I added that little part about Ichinose and Aki because it seemed cute. Before you flame, I know it had like nothing to do with the story, the next chapter will be longer. Can anyone guess who Alexandra's brother is? Oh and why does Kurimatsu add deyansu after everything he says? Like what does it mean? **R&R**


	4. Kidou's Past

As promised, this is a super long chapter. I think its more than all the other chapters combined. Two more of my OCs are introduced. If you want the meaning of the French phrases, check on my profile. This is going to be the only chapter for like a month because this week I have to study, the next two weeks I have my first term exams and the week after that i have 2 projects due. There will be an extra long chapter though.

Disclaimer: I clearly don't own Inazuma Eleven, because if I did, Hiroto-kun would be mine.

* * *

><p><strong>Kidou's Past:<strong>

**Touko's POV**

After two hours, the road changed from winding around the mountains to climbing up one. On the mountain opposite I could see dots of color which I assumed to be houses. And…..we were still crawling up the mountain.

Kabeyama in the back seat was shaking in fear of heights while Kurimatsu and Megane tried to calm him.

"If you never get over your fears, you'll remain weak!" Endou was lecturing Kabeyama on how to get over his fears. That wasn't the problem, even I was getting dizzy after looking out the window, we were so high up.

"B-b-bu-but t-th-tha-that is-isn't-WAAA!" The bus had suddenly stopped, throwing all of us to the back.

With difficulty I scooted out from underneath Kidou and climbed out of the bus. "Why did we stop, Furukabu-san, Coach?" What I saw made me stop in my tracks, astounded.

"What is it Touko?" Endou called out from the bus, his voice muffled under the weight of Someoka, Fubuki and Kazemaru. I was too stunned to answer.

I could hear someone getting off the bus and saw Kidou stop beside me, his face a mirror of mine.

I could hear the racket in the caravan as everyone tried to extract themselves out. Finally they all got off and stood beside us, staring in front.

In front was a pathway made of rock, just big enough to accommodate the Inazuma Caravan, connecting our mountain to the mountain opposite, where I could see lights twinkling from a town. However this crumbling bridge was about four feet thick and had absolutely no supports.

All any of us could process was the long drop to the ground nearly a hundred feet below us.

"What _is_ that?" Someoka was the first to break the silence.

"A bridge." I mentally hit myself. Of course it was a bridge; Kidou didn't have to answer so literally.

"I meant, why is it there?"

"This is the only path to get to Artemis Academy. My sources tell me that it is somewhere in that town." Coach Hitomiko pointed to the few lights that were twinkling in the dusky light.

"We have to go on that bridge? No way!" It took the combine efforts of Kurimatsu, Megane, Endou, and Kazemaru to stop Kabeyama from running away.

"Oh, you don't need to be worried about that, the bridge will hold up." A girl stepped out behind us from the shadows of the mountain.

"Eh, where did you come from?" asked Kazemaru, momentarily forgetting about Kabeyama who immediately got tangled up and fell, "Oh, sorry."

The girl just smiled mysteriously, "The mountains have many secrets."

The girl was really oddly dressed. She was wearing a long black cloak with the hood down, over a long-sleeved black shirt that didn't have any sleeves at the shoulder. The sleeves continued down to her wrist where it started narrowing till it reached a point just below the middle finger. The shirt was really long and it stopped just above the hem of her silver short shorts. On her feet was a pair of silver, lace-up, high heeled sandals that went till her knees. Her silver streaked brown hair was braided and reached halfway down her back.

What was out of character was her bright, enthusiastic, overly optimistic attitude. Her cheerful smile and mischievous, twinkling hazel eyes looked out of place with her black cloak.

"What's your name?" Kidou asked, seeming every bit of the Teikoku captain that I had seen in the Soccer Frontier. I was curious about this strange girl who had appeared from nowhere. Maybe she could teach me that move, and then I'd be able to protect Papa better.

"My name is Marie-Isabelle Lunai. But you can call me Isa, Zaizen Touko-chan." The girl smirked.

"How did you know my name?"

The girl huffed, "Don't tell me you've forgotten me!"

I frowned, she did seem familiar. Just where did I see her before? Then I got it! "Isa-chan?"

"Light bulb. Didn't we spend the whole of summer vacation together? How can you forget so easily, Touko-chan?"

Someone coughed behind me, "Touko-_chan_?"

Natsumi was angry about being snubbed and mystified how I knew the strange girl so well.

"Ah, sorry," I smiled sheepishly, "Everyone, this is Isa-chan, she is the daughter of the French Ambassador, Mr. Lunai. She's a second year like us. I met her last summer when both our families were vacationing together. We were inseparable for the entire summer. But then, Isa went to a boarding school and I went back to Tokyo."

"So, Isa-senpai-" Haruna started to ask.

"Please, call me Isa-chan," she wrinkled her nose, "I don't like Japanese formalities." She spoke perfect English with just a trace of a French accent.

"Sorry, Isa-chan why are you here?"

"As Touko-chan told you, I go to a boarding school, and that school is over there. I just took a week off to visit Maman and Papa," she pointed towards the lights on the other side of the bridge.

"Hmm, I wonder…" I could hear Kidou muttering to himself.

"Are you sure the bridge will hold?" Kabeyama said fearfully.

"Yeah, of course it will," then her cheerful expression became replaced with one of doubt, "at least I think so…probably…maybe…possibly…" Kabeyama's expression grew more fearful with every doubt. "One sec, let me ask." She pulled out her Samsung Champ and began dialing.

As I looked closer at her I began to realize why I hadn't remembered her. She looked completely different. As impossible as it seemed, she looked reserved and exhausted. There were faint circles under her eyes which I'm sure were darker one week ago. Her hair, instead of being the careless windswept look she had before, looked perfectly braided, not a hair out of place. Her cloak was fastened properly and her makeup was applied lightly, enhancing her face. This was not the messy Isa I had known.

The person on the other end picked up, _"Hello?"_ We could hear the other person speaking.

"Hey, Angel-chan, do you know how the soccer team is?" That seemed a pretty weird question to ask to see if the bridge would hold up.

"_No."_ The sound seemed oddly doubled.

"Aren't you back yet?"

"_No."_ Was it just an echo?

"Where are you, Angel-chan?"

"_Behind you."_ _Or not._ We all whirled around, standing behind us was an olive-skinned girl with long black hair in a ponytail and heavily lidded deep brown eyes. She was wearing the same outfit as Isa and she looked like she was of Spanish origin. She had an iPhone in her hand. The girl rolled her eyes when she saw Isa looking terrified, a bored expression on her face.

"Mon dieu, you scared me! Do not do that ever again, Angelica Del Toro!"

Angelica smirked at Isa, "La idiota."

Isa narrowed her eyes. Then seeing the rest of us clueless to what was going on, she introduced the new girl, "This is Angelica Del Toro, who hates her name so if you value your life, you'll call her Angel-chan. She's the daughter of the Spanish Ambassador to Japan and she also goes to my school and she's in the same class."

Angel cracked a smile, "It's nice to meet you all, aren't you the Raimon Eleven?"

Endou smiled, "Yeah, that's us!"

"You guys are awesome, I saw your match against Zeus and your third match against Gemini Storm. It's nice that you guys reached such a high level to be playing with aliens."

"It's just _nice_?" Kidou picked that word out, eyebrows raised. Angel and Isa exchanged a look.

"Why are you here?" Angel asked in a sharper tone than before.

"We were invited to Artemis Academy," Coach Hitomiko answered, her eyebrows furrowing. I frowned as I digested this new piece of information. She didn't tell us _that_ before.

"By whom?" Angel still seemed suspicious.

"Kira Meiko." What? I knew what was going on in everybody's head, _Kira_ Meiko? Kira was the coach's last name also. Angel tensed up at the name but her suspicious look went away. Isa merely frowned.

"Anyway, you can go on the bridge, I promise it won't crumble to pieces halfway through," Angel told us distractedly.

"Wait a moment Angel-chan, Touko-chan can you give us a lift in your bus?" Isa-chan stepped forward, "We're students at Artemis Academy."

* * *

><p><strong>Domon's POV<strong>

I stared uneasily out the window, watching the forest floor, one hundred feet below us. All that kept us in the air was a 4 foot thick rock, yeah, that kept me really reassured. My brain kept on rejecting the facts, saying that it wasn't possible that this rock didn't break in two even without the added weight of the caravan. However, after seeing Gemini Storm, I stopped trusting my brain. _Learning that aliens are real and want to take over our world with soccer really changes your perspective on life. _

The only two people who didn't seem disturbed by the fact that we were relying on something that was defying the laws of gravity were Isa and Angel. They were chatting with Touko in the front, back to their old cheerful selves, well almost. Ever since we mentioned Artemis Academy, they seemed reserved. Poor Touko didn't know whether to concentrate on the road or on them. Her eyes flickered back and forth. Kabeyama, on the other hand, was so deathly afraid that he was speechless, for which I was thankful.

Finally I could see the houses and stores of the town come in to view. In the twilight, the whole place seemed like a ghost town, nothing was stirring as far as I could see. Finally, the bus turned off the rock bridge and into a small parking lot.

Angel and Isa were the first off the caravan, still chatting with Touko. The rest of us followed behind…and stopped dead. Towering above us was the mountain, looking at it up close; it seemed more majestic than before.

Isa kept walking forward and then stopped when she noticed all of us were staring at the mountain. "Ah, I forgot. Welcome to Mount Olympus!" she said, opening her arms wide.

* * *

><p><strong>Kidou's POV<strong>

"Mount what?" Someoka was the first to break the silence.

"Mount Olympus as in **the** Mount Olympus?"

"So you're saying that this is the home of the Greek gods?" At that statement I was immediately on guard, waiting for the answer. In the Soccer Frontier finals, we had played the Zeus Eleven, a team that thought they were gods and drank the aqua of the gods to increase their power. Was this Kageyama's Project Omega? Or was this the home of Aphrodi or something like that?

Isa smiled, "No, this isn't **the** Mount Olympus, it's the name of this town." Once she said this I realized that we were standing in the town. It was carved into the mountain and I could see it curving in the distance. It probably circled the whole mountain.

Angel smirked again, "El idiota." That girl was really getting on Somoeka's nerves as I could see his face become red with anger.

"Why you-"

"Voici, voici," a woman came running towards us, "Est-ce que vous avons vu les filles qui jouer le foot?"

"Huh?" Endou was puzzled; this woman was speaking in a totally different language.

"Ne avez pas peur, il n'a pas dangereux, elles savant leur travail," Isa cut in swiftly, speaking fluent French in a soothing manner, "Une questionne. La belle dame avec cheveux noirs qui porte une chemise argent et les pantaloons noirs, est-elle là?

Angel and Isa's expressions grew grave as the woman replied, slightly calmer, "Oui, elle viens de venir, il y a deux minutes," she noticed their expressions, "Comment ça va?"

"Cette dame est dangereux, "Angel said abruptly in a heavily accented French. Even I knew enough French for that, _that lady is dangerous._ The woman got the gist of it through Angel's Spanish accent and walked away, her expression fearful.

"Endou!" I could hear Touko calling, "Where are you going?" Endou was walking in the direction the woman had come.

"Le foot means soccer in French, right?" he called turning around, "Maybe there's a soccer field here somewhere."

Touko and the first years started running after Endou while the rest of us walked behind with the girls.

"What's with the French?" Fubuki piped up.

"Who in Japan speaks French?" Natsumi asked, eyes narrowed.

"Well, only foreigners stay in Mount Olympus, there's never any Japanese. Artemis Academy doesn't accept pure Japanese students therefore most foreign students go there," Angel replied.

While we were walking, I noticed a lot of the teenagers walking around where wearing the black cloaks. The girls where wearing the same thing as Isa and Angel while the boys had a plain black T-shirt, silver Bermuda shorts and silver Greek-style sandals with the standard black cloak. It was most likely the Artemis Academy uniform.

Most of them had their hoods down but a few of them had pulled the hood up, hiding the top half of their face. The people with their hoods down had bright cheery smiles and were laughing and talking in their own groups of friends. However, the ones with hoods up walked fast and purposely, never stopping, weaving in and out of the people like gusts of wind. The bottom half of their faces looked so cold that it would have frozen fire. They seemed to have some dark purpose that they were forced to do.

All of a sudden the noise level escalated. We pushed through the crowds trying to see what happened. When we broke free, we saw Endou and the others in the front, craning their necks to see the mountain with aghast looks on their faces. I looked to see what the problem was…and gasped.

About fifty feet above, on the mountain face, sixteen girls in the Artemis Academy girl's uniform were rock-climbing down. What was so shocking was that they were doing this without harness and safety belts. From what I could see, they didn't even have gloves or a rope. Those sharp rocks that they were using as handholds would definitely be cutting their palm open. And with no rope, no harness, one misstep and they would break every bone in their body with the force of the impact with the ground.

None of them were wearing cloaks except the one who was closest to the ground. On her head, a silver coronet gleamed in the half-light. That sparkle brought back a lot of memories.

**-Flashback-**

_A six-year-old Yuuto wiped his face after defending Haruna again against those bullies. It had been nearly six months and most of the children at the orphanage had accepted them._

_Suddenly all the talking cut off, the shouts died down and the fights ceased. He turned around and saw her. Aldena Alexandra, the prettiest girl in the orphanage. Her parents had been rich and when they died, she had gotten a small fortune. Still, she had no relatives in Japan so she was sent to this orphanage. _

_She was called the 'Orphan Princess' as she was really nice and gave justice to everybody in the orphanage and also because of the silver coronet she always had hooked around her elbow. It was the only thing in her whole house that wasn't burnt in the fire that had killed her parents and twin brother._

_This was the first time Yuuto had properly seen her and of course he fell in love with the tall, six-year-old girl. She was beautiful, rich, nice, and smart= totally out of his league._

_She walked up to Haruna, "Hey, Haruna-chan, I'm Alex. Let's be friends." Haruna of course immediately agreed to be best friends with the Orphan Princess._

_She turned to the little boy, "You're her onii-chan, right?"_

_He nodded, "My name is Yuuto."_

"_Yuuto-kun?" she wrinkled her nose, "That's an awfully long name for someone so short."_

"_Hey! Not all people can be giants like you!"_

"_But it is to long, how about I call you Yuu-kun?"_

_He was ecstatic that she had made a nickname for me, "Sure!"_

"_Great! Come, let's play soccer!"_

**-Flashback-**

I turned to look at Haruna and saw that she had noticed the same thing.

"It's just like the Orphan Princess's crown, onii-chan."

"I know. I wonder if it could be her."

"You think that girl is Aldena Alexandra-senpai?"

"Yes."

"It could be, remember she got adopted and she is half Italian. She could go to Artemis Academy."

I smiled inwardly, how could I forget the day she left?

**-Flashback-**

"_Noo, don't leave us, Senpai!"_

"_Who will be our princess?"_

"_We need you, Aldena-senpai!"_

"_Don't leave your loyal subjects!"_

"_Alexandra-san!"_

"_Orphan Princess!"_

"_Aldena-senpai!"_

_Seven-year-old Aldena Alexandra rolled her eyes, "Geez, you'd think I'm going to die or something. Guys, I'm just getting adopted; don't make such a big fuss about it. If you need me that badly, it's all the more reason I should go."_

_Yuuto and Haruna stood next to her, seven months had passed since they had become friends._

_Poor Yuuto, he remembered all the fun times with Alexandra when they were playing soccer and how she could make Haruna laugh when she was about to cry. How beautiful she was, so kind and smart. He was getting his one and only crush taken away form him._

"_Alexandra-chan, are you done saying your good-byes?" the woman who came to pick her up said, impatient. Her new mother was too busy to come._

"_Bye, guys!" she waved to all the children at the orphanage, "I'll try to call or visit!"_

"_Bye, Haruna-chan!" she said, hugging Haruna._

"_Aldena-senpai…sniff," Haruna was crying on Alexandra's shoulder._

"_Bye, Yuu-kun." Then to Yuuto's astonishment, she hugged him too._

"_Bye, Alex-chan." He was the only who called her that._

_He would always remember his Alex-chan as she waved to him, a cheery smile on her face, right before she got into the limo that had been sent for her. Before she was taken into her ideal world, so perfect that she didn't bother calling or visiting them ever again._

**-Flashback-**

I watched the girls, painstakingly climb down. Suddenly, the girl who was wearing a cloak, the girl who looked like Aldena Alexandra, launched herself off the mountain, hurtling towards the ground.

* * *

><p>Mwahahaha, I'm evil. I left you guys with a cliffie for one month. Yes, the girl in the beginning was Aldena Alexandra. Her name is written in the Japenese way since she is half japenese. Actually it is Alexandra Aldena. So who do you think Alex-chan's brother is now. I love leaving false clues, I bet a hundred bucks you're wrong. Anyway, if you review I might get the next chapter up quicker. Even though I'm evil,<em><strong> R&amp;R<strong>_


	5. Hitomiko's Sister

NaCl: I should really be studying for my history exam which is tomorrow...

Lil bro: If you fail, I'm telling mom that you spent the whole time on Fanfiction.

NaCl: _If_ I fail. You know it's still 6:00pm. I have plenty of time.

Lil bro: That's the same thing you said when you had a project due in a months time. And you ended up doing the whole thing five hours before it was due.

NaCl: AT LEAST I updated this story.

Lil bro: You wanted to write the sequel, didn't you?

NaCl: Yup! I really want to see some Fudou/Haruna.

Kidou: If you don't finish this story, does that mean you won't start the Fudou/Haruna.

NaCl: Yes, why?

Kidou: (celebrates) You never update quickly, so it might be a year!

Disclaimer: If I owned Inazuma Eleven, I would make Kidou dress up in Haruna's clothes and dance so that I won't be depressed that I don't update quickly.

Lil bro: (shudders) I'm glad that isn't me.

Alex: Even though NaCl doesn't own Inazuma Eleven, she still owns this story.

Kidou: (dancing) When can I take off Haruna's clothes?

* * *

><p><strong>Hitomiko's Sister<strong>

**Kidou's POV**

I gasped. Around me, the Raimon team echoed the sound. Only Coach Hitomiko, Isa and Angel seemed unaffected by this girl's suicide attempt. Hitomiko only narrowed her eyes while Isa and Angel sighed, as if the girl was only showing off.

The other two closest to the ground also jumped. I watched them fall towards the earth with horrorstruck eyes.

But, it wasn't as if they were falling. With growing terror, I realized that each of them were in diving position, actually speeding their fall. The girl in the middle, the one who had jumped first, looked exactly like Aldena Alexandra. She had the same onyx eyes, the same midnight black hair. She was wearing the coronet that was the only thing that came out of the fire unscathed. The coronet which she had worn around her elbow before now fitted her perfectly as if it was made for her.

As she got closer I could see a cold expression on her face as if she was only kicking another soccer ball.

_How could she be like this? She's plummeting to her death and her face is expressionless?_

I watched with a mixture of emotions as she reached twenty feet off the ground. I was so happy that I had found Alex again, but now she was jumping to her death.

Then ten feet off the ground, all three of them twisted themselves the right way up and grabbed at the rock surface, finding handholds in a blink of an eye.

For one heartbeat they hung there. Then dropping to the ground, they twisted and landed in front of a woman. She was wearing a black jacket and black jeans_._ I would bet that this was the woman Angel was talking about, _cette dame est dangereux,_ that lady is dangerous.

With a start, I realized that they had jumped due to some unseen signal from her.

"Aldena-senpai is sooo cool!" Haruna was starry eyed over the fact that they had survived the fall.

Isa raised her eyebrows, "Aldena-senpai?"

"You're right," I said to Haruna, "finding handholds in the split second they had; slowing themselves down for the exact time that would balance them on the fine line between not stopping their fall and breaking their fingers from the pressure."

"_Aldena-senpai_?" Natsumi looked at us confused, "You know that girl?"

"Her name is Aldena Alexandra. She was another kid at the orphanage we went to. She was also known as the Orphan Princess because of her crown and her ability to make sure that everyone was fair to each other at the orphanage. She is half Italian and the same age as onii-chan. She was my best friend and onii-chan's also. Though onii-chan thought of her as more than a friend."

"Haruna!" I could feel myself turning red.

"Aww, your first crush," Someoka wasted no time, "What were you, six?"

"Yes," I mumbled. _First and only._

The three girls finished talking to the mysterious woman at walked over to us. I frowned, confused. _Why would they come over here?_

The girl at Alex's right had brown hair tied into a French braid, a few wisps falling over her face. Her emerald eyes were frozen cold as she walked, with such grace that it seemed that they were skating over ice. Her palms were cut and were oozing blood onto her black sleeves but she didn't seem to care.

The other girl, on Alex's left, had blonde hair in a Chinese bun, black chopsticks holding it in place. Her amethyst eyes didn't show a flicker of emotion. Her hands were also cut, beads of blood forming still, the red liquid smeared across her hand.

Alex's hands were the worst. They were so cut up that I couldn't tell what her skin was and what her cuts were. The blood dripped steadily off her hand and onto the ground as she walked, still graceful, towards our group.

Out of the corner I could see the remaining girls, now thirty feet off the ground, pause and watch the confrontation about to happen.

Alex walked past me, not even acknowledging me after the seven years it had been. She walked and came to a stop in front of Isa and Angel.

Isa was so pale she looked like she was going to faint, Angel was a frozen statue.

"Aldena-senpai…" Haruna started to say, but was cut off with an emotionless look by Alex. She took a step back, eyes wide open, scared.

"I don't know any Aldena-senpai." With those five words, Haruna gasped. It definitely was Aldena Alexandra, but why is she acting like she doesn't remember us?

"Kira-senpai…" Isa said weakly, "Blacé-senpai, Exotica-senpai…"

"Why weren't you here for the past week?" Alex's voice remained expressionless, as if she was commenting about the weather. She wasn't shouting or whispering. But her voice was so cold that the temperature dropped to zero. Somehow it seemed that her voice could have frozen the very sun.

"I…I was visiting Maman and Papa." Isa had suddenly changed from the happy go lucky girl we had first seen to a frightened teen.

"I didn't ask you for the story you had made up for an excuse," Alex's voice was still emotionless but the coldness brought with it a scent of fear.

_That she knew that people would do what she told them to do._

_That she would never need to raise her voice to accomplish her task._

_That she was in complete control, she showed no emotions._

_The coldness was a threat; that she would reveal her emotions sometime and then the world would crack apart._

"Now, your answer?" She didn't seem to care about the blood running down her hands and dripping to the ground, the coldness in the air, or the fact that the dusk had suddenly changed to night.

Isa took a deep breath, "I went to ask Papa to go back to France."

"Why?"

"You know that, Kira-senpai!" Isa was suddenly defiant.

"I'll repeat my question: Why?" Her tone brooked no argument.

"Because I want to leave this school!" I was stunned; Isa sounded like she hated it here, I couldn't reason why.

"What did he say?" Alex looked like she wasn't at all interested in the answer but her two friends were hanging on each word.

"No."

"And you, Angel?"

"Same thing." Angel wasn't smirking now; she had her eyes downcast and was mumbling to the ground.

"Did it ever penetrate your thick skulls that we needed you?" Alex's voice still sounded expressionless but Isa and Angel recoiled as if she had hit them with a soccer ball.

"Sorry, Kira-senpai," Isa said, bowing to Alex, "and Blacé-senpai and Exotica-senpai."

"_Sorry,_" the girl with blonde hair sneered, "Sorry doesn't even cut it!"

"Cassandra," the brunette said in a warning tone.

Cassandra just smirked at Isa and turned, "Let's go, Toni, Alex."

Alex and Toni turned to leave.

They had got a few steps when I shouted at Alex, "Wait!"

Alex froze. In front of her, Toni and Cassandra spun around with shocked expressions on their faces.

Alex turned and said in the same lifeless voice, "What do you want?"

When she turned, she finally met my eyes. I gasped.

_Those eyes of hers, the liquid onyx which I had come to fall in love with had become frozen._

_The eyes that made you feel like you were sinking into a bog, were now were closed off._

_Her eyes where as lifeless as her voice._

I took a half step back in fear, "I…I…" I couldn't find my voice anymore. It was as if her eyes had frozen my brain.

Cassandra unfroze and smirked, one hand on her hip, the blood darkening her black shirt, "Aww, how cute! He stutters."

Toni couldn't resist another insult, "They say it's one of the _first_ signs of love." She crossed her arms with a smug smile.

"_Shut up._" Alex's black eyes were unreadable as she spun on her heel and walked away, between Cassandra and Toni who were staring into space, shocked, jaws dropped open.

"_Captain?_" They turned around to see Alex disappear around a bend in the street.

"Ah, I see you've met some of my team." A sweet, tinkling voice came from behind us. Somehow that voice reminded me of the evil queen in Snow White. _Her poisoned apple looked so sweet, but it contained enough poison to kill._

Standing behind us was the woman from earlier, the one whom Alex had been talking to. Looking up close, I could see that she looked _exactly like Coach._ The only thing was that she was wearing a different outfit.

"_Meiko,_" Coach stared at the woman.

"This is Cassandra Exotica, her mother was a member of the Denmark royal family who married a very successful Japanese businessman," she said, pointing at the blonde. "This is Antonia Blacé, the daughter of a cousin of the Pope," she pointed at Toni.

"What about Aldena-senpai?" Haruna asked timidly.

"Aldena-senpai? Oh, you mean the girl who just left. That's Kira Alexandra, her late mother was an Italian princess, and her deceased father was a member of the Prime Minister's Council."

"_Kira_ Alexandra?" Coach asked, her eyebrows raised.

Meiko smiled, but it seemed like she wanted to kill the person she was smiling at. _Definitely a poisoned apple._

"You'll find that a lot has changed in the past years," she said, flipping her hair. She looked at Coach Hitomiko and sneered, "_Sister._"

* * *

><p>NaCl: ...<p>

Lil bro: ...

Kidou: ...

Alex: ...

NaCl: That..chapter..was..

Lil bro: Oh..my..god..

Kidou: (trys to cheer them up) Guys, at least its not a Fudou/Haruna chapter!

NaCl, Alex, & lil bro: (stares at Kidou like he's crazy)

Alex: I'm not even going to comment on how you wrote the chapter.

Uhh..pls review..even though..it..like...

Oh, I need memes for a new fic which is NOT going to be all depressing, (lil bro: For once.). Anyway **_R&R_**


	6. Stadium of Mount Olympus

NaCl: Yo, minna-san! Sorry for the short chapter, I ran out of ideas..

Disclaimer: I don't own IE.

* * *

><p><strong>Field of Mount Olympus<strong>

**Haruna's POV**

I gasped. Around me, the Raimon team was staring at Coach with looks of horror. She just ignored them and returned the other woman's glare. Meiko just smiled and turned to Isa and Angel, "Marie-Isabelle, Angelica, escort our guests to Artemis Academy."

Each of them bowed and turned to walk in the direction Alex had taken, motioning us to follow. Meiko turned back to the mountain. Cassandra and Antonia both followed Isa and Angel. After we turned around one of the many bends of Mount Olympus, I saw it.

_Artemis Academy._

It was a grey steel structure spanning most of the space between the mountain and the edge of the road.

The twenty feet concrete grey walls were topped with security cameras and electrified barbed wire. All the security measures were pointed towards the school, as if to trap students inside. _The whole set-up seemed odd to me, why would anyone stop a student from going out?_

Toni walked up to the huge metal doors that opened into the street. We reluctantly followed, looking at the stream of students that were coming and going out of the school grounds.

Now, after Isa's outburst, I could see that many students, under the mask of happiness and cheerfulness, looked weary and tired, looking pained that they went to such a school.

_Which of course made me wonder, exactly what a school Artemis Academy was…_

_As soon as we stepped across the threshold, I gasped, Artemis Academy…there was no words to describe it…_

There was a main building surrounded by the most beautiful grounds I had ever seen. Every ten feet, statues depicting various Greek gods and scenes from mythology, appeared. Long, winding hedges with multi-coloured flowers threaded amongst Greek-style marble benches and fountains spouting water. Now, in the twilight, the grounds were lit up with ornate lamps every five feet.

Students were here and there, sitting on the benches hurriedly copying what appeared to be homework, slowly walking through the garden holding hands and talking, making their way to the mountain.

The only thing that marred this fairy tale scene was the ruins of what I assumed to be the building Epsilon had destroyed. Smoke still curled off the wreckage, magnifying the damage. My chest tightened, I couldn't believe that even aliens could do this to innocent people, even they should have an _ounce_ of compassion…

Toni ignored all the other students, the enchanting garden, and the smoking ruins and walked straight up to what I assumed to be the main building. It towered over the grounds, the thousand-ton pound steel structure imposing the scene. It was sort of circular, the shape seemed kinda similar…as if I had seen it somewhere before…

Cassandra took over and pushed open a door and ushered us inside. The door closed behind us with a loud bang and left us staring at…nothing.

The place where we were standing was pitch-black, I couldn't make out anything. After a minute my eyes got adjusted and I could see that we were sanding in a corridor of a sort, and a light that was coming from the end of the hallway.

There was something about the half-light and enclosed space, that gave you a certain anticipation, but at the same time, walking past hundreds of padlocked doors, the impression that this place was haunted came to everyone's mind. Without question we followed the four Artemis Academy students.

The light grew brighter as we neared the end of the hallway, it seemed to be a bluish, purplish light…as if the hallway opened outside, where the twilight reigned.

When we reached the end and stepped out of the hallway, I gasped, stunned.

Next to me, all the Raimon members echoed the sound.

_There was the biggest soccer stadium I had ever seen._

_Towering in front of us was the legendary Mount Olympus field, where it was rumored that the gods themselves had played soccer._

* * *

><p>Again, sorry for the short chapter but please review! <strong><em><span>R&amp;R<span>_**!


	7. Soccer's Shadow

NaCl: Next chappie! I decided to finally get this story over with...so I can start the sequels!

Kidou: Oh, joy...

Disclaimer: I don't own IE.

* * *

><p><strong>Soccer's Shadow<strong>

**Aki's POV**

I stared, stunned, at the mammoth field that towered above us. This field was the legendary Mount Olympus Stadium, the supreme soccer stadium in the world, _long thought to be a myth_, the field where it was rumored that the _gods themselves_ had played soccer.

Around the stadium, the worn-out leather seats shone, reflecting the light. The soccer field was no better; the grass was missing in places, the goalposts scratched and charred, the marks of hundreds of shoots throughout the eons preserved on this mythical field. The nets were torn, ripping under the pressure as goalkeeper or soccer ball had repeatedly slammed into it. The white lines were broken in places, the ground was worn, the field was shabby, the once home of the gods…_deserted._

The moon's light now shone in the exact center of the field, illuminating the circle in the middle. _As if the gods' spotlight was trained on this legendary field._

_As if the gods themselves watched the mythical matches, the clashing of hell and heaven, the fights between mortals and immortals. _

_As if this was a gateway to heaven._

The field smelled of burnt dreams, destroyed hopes, smashed desires.

Long ago, when soccer was a weapon, a tool for destruction, a device to prove supremacy, this field had given the victors glory…and shattered the losers' bodies. The wars that had been fought on this battlefield, the armies of sixteen skilled players, the clashing of spirits, the cries of souls, still echoed in the silence of the stadium.

It had a mystical air about it, as if it was a fairy tale, a curse laid down by a wicked witch, a spell handed down through sagas.

The legendary stadium…was beyond anything I have seen or would ever see in this life.

* * *

><p><strong>Haruna's POV<strong>

Toni led us across the field, she and her fellow teammates didn't seem very interested in admiring the stadium. When we had crossed it, she led us through another pathway, which seemed as if we were going inside the mountain itself.

We emerged in a brightly lit room full of students. The domed ceiling was at least the height of the stadium and an enormous chandelier glittered in the middle. The floor was carpeted and couches and chairs were grouped here and there, occupied by the many students. There were students everywhere, the room echoed with their voices. Some were in groups of three or four, scattered among the couches, doing homework, or scurrying through the many doors the opened into this large chamber. It had the feeling of a common room, the focal point of the school.

Through all the voices, I heard a girl's voice calling Toni's name. We all turned around to see a girl with blood red hair walking towards us.

She was wearing a silver sleeveless shirt with black stripes at the side and black shorts with silver stripes. She had on silver knee-length socks and black cleats. As she came closer, I could see the kanji for 'The Hunters' embroidered at the top left corner of her shirt. Her blood red hair was tied into a high ponytail which reached to her shoulders. Her sapphire eyes gleamed as she neared, a brand new soccer ball under one hand. Her hand had half healed scrapes and I guessed that she was one of the girls who had been climbing down the mountain. Her death pale skin seemed translucent and her blood red lips were curled into a smirk.

She strolled up to Cassandra, "Hey, Cass, Toni, any idea why Captain is trying to destroy the net?"

I could see the number 5 in black on the back of her shirt. She finally noticed us, "Oh, look, aren't you the Raimon Eleven?"

Angel introduced the new girl, "This is Vampire **(pronounced vamp-peer) **Dracula, her mother is a descendant of Count Dracula, her father, the Japanese ambassador to Transylvania. She prefers to be called Pire **(pronounced pyre).**"

"So would you, if your baka of a mother decided to name you after a mythical creature!"

"They're here to play us, Pire," Cass suddenly spoke up, her voice mocking.

Pire's eyes widened and she laughed, "Play us? The invincible team? That's a nice joke!"

Endou couldn't take her insulting tone, "Nobody is invincible! You shouldn't underestimate us!"

Pire, Toni and Cass looked at him. They no longer looked angry, lifeless, or mocking. Instead they looked…_sad?_

_Their eyes seemed to be full of pain, the mask that they had previously worn, gone. Their eyes spoke of a tortured life, of agony we could only begin to guess at. They looked…broken._

Pire smiled sympathetically at us, "We aren't underestimating you, Raimon Eleven, we know the level you have reached. We are just stating a _fact_."

Each injured body spoke of horrors that we couldn't even imagine.

Toni continued, "For you, soccer is just a sport. For us, _it is a matter of life and death_."

_Each pain-filled pair of eyes showed the level of terror in their darkened lives._

Cassandra went on, her mocking tone gone, "You guys win the game by using your technique of never giving up. We win _by sacrificing out bodies_."

_Each worn-out, exhausted body spoke of practicing until they dropped of exhaustion._

Pire finished, "For you, soccer is fun game, winning or losing is just an outcome. _For us,_ _the only thing that matters is winning, even if we can't walk again_!"

_Each tortured face spoke of life in agony, the shadow of soccer, the black among the white, of life on the dark side of the world._

* * *

><p>NaCl: PLEASE REVIEW, MINNA-SAN!<p> 


	8. Best of the Best! Invincible Team!

NaCl: I'm only updating this to make my announcement! Oh, and to try to finish this, cuz I have to make three sequels to this, summaries are in my profile…

Lil bro: WOW! You're actually starting a chapter before ten!

Kidou: (looks at watch) It's nine fifty-nine…

Lil bro: No need to get technical…

Disclaimer: If I owned IE, I wouldn't be studying for my board exams right now, as I'd be filthy rich…

NaCl: Let's finish this chapter so that **Floric1434** can be satisfied and that I can make my announcement…

* * *

><p><strong>Best of the Best! Invincible Team!<strong>

**Kidou's POV**

I looked into their broken eyes, terrified by the agony that they faced. Beside me, Endou was speechless, that such soccer even existed.

"Oi! Toni, Cass! Vampire!" We all turned to see a brunette running towards us.

She had long brown hair that was loose, reaching the middle of her back, and she was wearing the silver shirt and black shorts that was probably the soccer uniform of the Hunters. Her tan skin was covered in sweat, she looked ready to collapse. Her fatigued green eyes showed fear as she ran up to the three soccer players next to us.

"Flo-senpai!" Isa exclaimed, then turned to us, "This is Flora McKenny, otherwise known as Flo. She's the Malaysian teen ambassador to Japan and the best defender on our team, apart from Kira-senpai."

"Huh, what? Oh, that's fine, but we can discuss that later!" she said distractedly, talking between gasps, "Coach is looking all over for you three! And she's not exactly in a good mood!"

Cass snorted, "When is Coach ever in a good mood?"

"Please, Exotica-senpai! Come quickly!" Flo begged. Then, glancing at us, she turned to Isa, "Coach wants you to show the Raimon Eleven to their quarters and explain the rules to them."

Isa nodded as Flo ran back to where she had come from, Toni, Cass, and Pire following her, practically flying over the ground.

Isa motioned for us to follow her, turning to one of the many hallways. This one was dimly lit, and smelled as if it hadn't been used for a long time. Dust was still settled on the floor, the air was stagnant.

With growing horror, I slowly realized that Isa's face was becoming colder and colder as we traveled down the hallway. Her face was slowly covering all her agony, all her pain, as an emotionless mask crept. Her eyes were already frozen, her expression chilling me as we walked.

As I looked next to me, Angel's face was _already_ in the detached mask that Alex wore.

I grew more and more terrified as I realized what exactly was going on. Each girl had felt pain, agony, fear but each hid their suffering. Cassandra hid behind a mask of arrogance, sarcasm, superiority. Antonia was supposed to be a superior, calm, patient girl. And Alex had hid all her emotions, completely cut off from the world.

The seven-year-old's bubbly personality that I remembered was long gone.

_The cheerful outgoing Orphan Princess was replaced with an ice-cold statue._

_No, even ice can melt_, Alex was frozen beyond repair. She could never be thawed out, I would never be able to break that ice, the emotionless mask that covered a broken, agonized thirteen-year-old girl…

My morose thoughts stopped as we came at the head of a long well-lit corridor, looking down to see many doors opening off the brightly lit, homely hallway.

"These are your rooms," Isa said in a flat voice, indicating the many doors, "Each room has a bed with a TV, a chest of drawers, and a fridge. A fully furnished bathroom opens off each room. At the end of the hallway, there is a fully equipped kitchen, which you can use to cook your food."

"You have one day," Angel picked up, her voice apathetic, "The day after tomorrow, three p.m. is the match between the Hunters and Raimon Eleven. During this one day, you are allowed to do whatever you want. There is no curfew, you can stay up as late as you want. Here at Artemis Academy, all the courses are geared towards professions in the soccer world, therefore you can sit in any classes you want. You can go to the Library and also access the Internet and our database on all soccer stats in the world."

"You can also practice in any of the eight fields that are in our training grounds," Isa continued, her listless voice creeping me out, "Also, you can observe our practices which will either be on the Mount Olympus field or the training grounds. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Megane spoke up, flashing his glasses, "How will we know when you practice?"

Angel snorted, a superior smirk, "The only time we don't practice is from two to five."

"Two p.m. to five a.m.?"

"No. Two _a.m_. to five _a.m_."

_All the Raimon Eleven's faces registered shock as they digested this place of news. Even Coach Hitomiko looked shocked._

"You mean," Kazemaru spoke up, horrified, "Those girls climbing the mountain today, had only three hours of sleep, and were practicing the entire day?"

"I wouldn't call it _sleep_," Isa said, walking down the hallway. I reluctantly followed Endou who went after her. She opened a glass door near the end of the corridor, and gestured at the nine fields that lay in the immense grounds, "This is the Training Grounds. You are free to use any of the eight outside fields, the center one is for the Hunters."

As we watched the small figures play soccer in the distance, suddenly, one of the tiny figures hit the floor. The girl, however, struggled to her feet and lunged after the ball, restoring the rhythm.

"Two in the morning is _as long_ as they can _last_," Angel said, her frozen eyes looking at the girl who collapsed, "As soon as _none_ of the girls can _go on_, practice is _over_."

Isa closed the door and looked at us again, "Any more questions?"

I frowned, "Earlier, you said that all courses at Artemis Academy are geared towards professions in the soccer world…"

"Yes," Isa looked at me with the mildest flicker of superiority, "Artemis Academy, is, simply put, a school of soccer. All the courses involve soccer, whether you want to be a commenter, a coach, a manager, an owner, a doctor, a referee, an analyst, a editor, a reporter, a photographer, or a player, each of these courses are taught in respect to the game of soccer. You'll be surprised to know how many soccer related professions there are."

"Wait, that means," Endou looked puzzled, "These eleven girls are the only ones in the whole school who want to be players?"

"Of course not," Angle answered, "These are those who have been chosen out of hundreds. They are literally the best of the best. And with the fact that they use _every_ drop of power to win a match, sacrifice to win, they are the strongest, the _invincible_ team."

"No team is-" Endou started to say, but was cut off by Angel.

"This is all the information we have for you, any more questions?"

_Nobody moved, each was too overwhelmed with all that they had heard. _

Soccer players who sacrificed themselves to win was _one_ thing, but they were the _best _of the best…Coach wanted us to win _against an invincible team!_

"One last thing," Isa said as Angel opened the door and began walking towards the team, "Our ace striker is Antonia Blacé; our other forward is Cassandra Exotica. Our four midfielders are: Vampire Dracula, whom you've met, is one of our game strategists, and Zalika Taj, the daughter of the South African ambassadors to Japan, is the other. The other two midfielders are: Liliana Wen, a half Chinese and Chione Ebonique, whose mother was a descendant of Cleopatra; her father is the Egyptian ambassador to Japan."

"Our defenders are Kira Alexandra, our captain, Flora McKenny, whom you've met; and Caliana Guadalupe whose mother is a Saudi Arabian princess and her father is a famous Japanese CEO. Also, our third game strategist is Raelene Melba, whose parents are Australian astro-physicists working in Japan, another defender. Our goalkeeper is the American Japanese Xandra Olexa."

"_Well then, good luck, Raimon Eleven. You'll need it."_

* * *

><p>NaCl: Ohhhh…cold…<p>

Lil bro: And you finished it…and it isn't eleven yet!

Kidou: Now will you go to sleep?

NaCl: Are you mad? I have to study!

Lil bro: AHH! I need to study Kannada!

NaCl: You are such a bakahead, oh by the way, this is the Hunters.

**Forwards:** Ace striker Antonia Blacé _(half Italian)_, Cassandra Exotica _(half German)._

**Midfielders:** Gamemaker Vampire Dracula _(half Transylvanian)_, Gamemaker Zalika Taj _(South African)_, Liliana Wen _(half Chinese)_, Chione Ebonique _(Egyptian)_.

**Defenders:** Captain Kira Alexandra _(half Italian)_, Flora McKenny _(Malaysian)_, Caliana Guadalupe _(half Saudi Arabian)_, Gamemaker Raelene Melba _(Australian)_.

**Goalkeeper:** Xandra Olexa _(American)_.

So the captain is Alex, the ace striker is Toni, the three gamemakers are Pire, Zia, Rel.

NaCl: And the announcement is…I will not be updating for five months due to having to study for finals and the national exams, due to this being my last year of high school, GOMENASAI, MINNA-SAN!


	9. No Pain No Gain

NaCl: No…must…get…sleep…

Kidou: Oi, someone tell her to go to bed its already freaking TWO O' CLOCK IN THE MORNING!

Lil bro: Ah, Kidou-san you have appeared to have forgotten a vital point…this is MY sister we're talking about…

Kidou: (evil grin) Become a teenager, little boy, and you're learn that all women have their weakness… (yells) HIROTO GET YOUR ASS HERE!

Hiroto: (comes) What?

Kidou: (motions to a half-asleep NaCl) Get your beloved girlfriend to get some sleep…

Hiroto: (gulps and walks over to NaCl) Here there NaCl-chan~ You look really tired, you should go have your beauty sleep~ Make you more energized to do things tomorrow! (smirks)

NaCl: Go…to…hell…bastard…I'm…finishing…this…chapter…

Disclaimer: If I owned IE, do you think I would become like the walking dead?

Hiroto: Fine then, don't blame me when you pass out while writing the chapter!

NaCl: I don't give a damn…

Kidou: (looks confused) Did something happen between the two of you? (goes silent when he receives two death glares)

* * *

><p><strong>No Pain, No Gain<strong>

**Normal POV**

All Kidou wanted to do was to curl up and sleep on his comfortable bed. He was dead tired from all the drama that took place.

First he finds out Epsilon destroyed a school, then they go to that school, meet a bunch of freaks, meet his childhood friend, go the school and feel all insecure in its awesomeness, meet a bitch that looked like their coach, and discover that they have to play a team that not only sacrificed themselves to win, but were also the best of the best.

Frankly, Kidou thought his life should be on one of those TV shows that all the girls squealed about.

Other times, he thought that some higher power was getting a kick out of watching his messed up life.

**[A/N: That I am, Kidou, that I am…]**

But, as Raimon Eleven's gamemaker, he had to go find out information. He was already depressed about the whole thing with Alex; he didn't need to go see her passing out, so his best bet was the library.

He stepped out of the room that had been given to him. It was like a generic hotel room belonging to some elite resort. He carefully looked both sides before stepping out of the doorway. He didn't want to go with anyone else, he wasn't in the mood, and he wanted to look up some information on Alex.

If he remembered correctly, most of the players weren't there.

Endou had of course immediately said that he was going to practice in one of the fields that led off from the hallway, The Hunters having moved to the Mount Olympus stadium. Fubuki, Touko, Someoka and Kabeyama had followed him. Kurimatsu, Ichinose, Domon, and Megane had gone to see The Hunters practice. The managers were out exploring the school and god knows what their coach was doing.

Kidou had scarcely taken ten steps down the corridor when he heard another voice, "Kidou?"

He unwillingly turned around, mentally cursing the person who stood there, which turned out to be Kazemaru.

Kazemaru gave him a light smile, one that both of them knew was fake, "Where are you going?"

Kidou looked at the tealnet, debating on whether to answer or not. Finally, he made up his mind, "Well, it's seven, and the managers said dinner was at eight, so I'm going to gather some information from the library."

"Oh," Kazemaru looked slightly shocked, "Can I come?"

"Sure."

Kidou turned around again and continued on his path, cursing Kazemaru, cursing Coach, cursing everyone who had led up to this irritating incident.

One of these days, he was going to find that bitch up there who loved making his life hell, and she was going to suffer.

**[A/N: You know you love me, Yuu-kun~]**

* * *

><p>"The great fire of Honoo? Nah. The Artemis Alpha Meet? Nah. Gemini Storm's defeat. I was there… Ah, finally! Epsilon's recent attack on Artemis Academy!" Haruna lit up with delight as she found the article she was looking for. She clicked on the link, the glow from the monitor lighting up her eager face and she started skimming through the story. It was part of Artemis Academy's updates, the most recent post.<p>

She scrolled past all the unimportant information like how many students were wounded, how long it would take for them to recover, the estimate damage, the cost of repairing the secondary building, and so on.

**[A/N: I'm sure it was pretty important to them, Haruna-chan.]**

She found what she was looking for; the actual retelling of the incident. Her eyes frowned as she began reading.

_For the students of Artemis Academy, a remote school of soccer located in the town of Mount Olympus, where famous ambassadors have gone for vacation, it seemed like any other day. Get up, scramble to finish the homework, chat with friends, watch their best soccer team head out for training, and eat breakfast while seeing their two other teams practice. They, however, had reckoned without the unearthly beings that have landed on our planet, the alien soccer teams of Aliea Academy!_

_Most of you remember that it was just a couple of hours ago, Endou Mamoru and Raimon Eleven had defeated Gemini Storm, led by the alien Reize. What none of them had bet on was ANOTHER Aliea Academy team, Epsilon, captained by the evil extraterrestrial known as Desarm. Epsilon felt like getting their plan of world dominance by soccer back on track, so they decided to go to another school to wreck havoc. Actually, doesn't this remind anyone about the way Teikoku used to do things? Moreover with their ruthless captain and brilliant strategist, Kidou Yuuto? Now said gamemaker is on Raimon's side, fighting against the aliens like there's no tomorrow. Talk about hypocrites._

Haruna narrowed her eyes, whoever wrote this column was a serious bitch.

**[A/N: Why thank you, darling~]**

Someone who didn't feel like sugarcoating the truth.

**[A/N: Someone like moi?]**

Someone who-

**[Lil bro: MY GOD ONEE-CHAN GET BACK TO THE DAMN STORY]**

-tells it like it is.

**[A/N: Giggles…okay, fine, I'll stop now…]**

Haruna just shook her head and went back to reading the story.

_Epsilon's attack started at 1358 hours, 34 seconds. For normal people, who don't get why certain bitches of coaches/headmistresses insist on writing time in army form, it was 1:58 pm, 34 seconds. At that exact moment, a black and red soccer ball connected with the secondary building. When the haze had cleared, there they stood. Aliea Gakuen's First Rank team…Epsilon. _

_First off, I wanted to say this…Desarm, are you gay? Those shorts are WAY too tight…and what's with the pompoms on your knees? Why do you aliens have the girls dress up in such tight uniforms? Who's the weird girl with her hair in plates? Who's the freak who looks like she has a spider on her face? And lastly…you just look plain wrong when you sneer evilly. Like…if-I-meet-you-in-a-dark-alley-I-would-scream perverted leer. And you have no fashion sense…that pale skin does NOTHING for you…_

_Okay, I have to get back to the main article because Miss I-have-a-stick-up-my-you-know-what says so. And her orders are to be obeyed. Unless you want a soccer ball in your face, kicked with a certain apathetic bitch's hissatsu. Some captain she is, she doesn't even care about her damn team! Kira…even her name pisses me off! Her goody-two-shoes act for her arrogant bitch of her mother, coincidentally her coach…is just plain annoying. Beyond annoying. You know what else is annoying? Writing this damn report._

_Okay, the quicker I finish it, the quicker I can go to sleep, so here it is. Kira Meiko, her daughter, Kira Alexandra, and the team she captains, The Hunters, Artemis Academy's silver rank team, was 'coincidentally' out practicing somewhere in the great outdoors when the gay freaks showed up. Yeah, 'Coach' like we'll believe you. Anyway, Omega and Silver Arrow, the copper and bronze ranks of Artemis Academy respectfully, fought against Epsilon, but were crushed. Epsilon left, that weird homosexual Desarm saying, in this weird echoey haunting voice that reminds you of overdramatic soap operas, that he has information for Alex and her mother. His exact words were: 'Tell your beloved Coach, your star player Alexandra, that we know who you are. We will get you on our side. And for Alex-chan, her brother has something to say. You have one warning Alex, don't join your brother by a week, and your friends will answer first.'_

_Now many of you might be thinking…this is the most lame assed threat I've ever heard. Well…to put it frankly, I'm sure the whole world agrees._

Haruna blinked.

**[A/N: WHAT? It's two in the morning; don't expect me to sound threatening…]**

_Well, I could go into another long rant, but this article has achieved the minimum number of words, and I really need some sleep, so bye!_

_Sayonara,_

_Maou_

_P.S. My real name isn't Maou, its Mauvra Jerali, second year, heir to Jerali Incorporated._

Haruna sighed as she clicked the back button. The article didn't do anything, except tell her that not everyone loved their captain. Nobody wanted the coach. And most of all, each and every student hated it here.

Maybe it did tell her a few things after all…

* * *

><p>"HEY THAT IS MY FUCKING CHOCOLATE!"<p>

Kidou and Kazemaru nearly jumped a foot off the ground when they heard the ear-piercing shout coming from the otherwise silent library.

Being the nosy parkers they are, plus wanting chocolate **[A/N: I dare you to tell me you don't have cravings for chocolate right now…]** they decided to follow the shout.

After turning many corners, and scooting down rows of stacked books, the two boys finally found the source of the commotion. They spun past the last corner to find themselves looking in a row marked 'Advanced Hissatsu Techniques'.

In the aisle were two girls. One was slowly eating a chocolate, her eyes closed as she savored the sweet taste. The other girl sweatdropped at the first's antics, then turning her eyes down, resuming the study of a book she had opened in her hands.

The girl who was eating chocolate had a smattering of freckles across her slightly tanned face. Her hazel eyes opened in bliss as she took another bite. Her dirty blonde hair was braided, the end coming over her shoulder. She was wearing the same silver sleeveless tank and black shorts with silver stripes that Pire and Flo were wearing. Making an educated guess, Kidou assumed that it was the soccer uniform of The Hunters.

The other girl was dressed in the same clothes, however, as the first girl was barefoot, this one had on a pair of strappy silver heels, the same that he saw Isa and Angel wearing. She had caramel colored hair which was tied into two pigtails that hung over her shoulders. Her gold eyes complemented her pale skin, and were currently engrossed in her book. As she was leaning against the shelves, Kidou caught a glimpse of the title; it said something about training for advanced hissatsus.

The blonde finished her chocolate and turned to the other, not noticing the Raimon players, "Ne, Zia, what did she mean when she said to surprise her?"

The brunette, Zia, answered, not even looking up from the book, "Rel, it means that the bitch is going to enjoy torturing us if we don't come up with an interesting hissatsuwaza in…fifteen minutes, now. And, it's rude to eavesdrop on other people's conversations."

Kidou narrowed his eyes and spoke up, startling the blonde, Rel, who stared at him like he had two heads, "We weren't eavesdropping."

"I know," Zia smirked, focusing her golden eyes on Kidou, "I'm too smart. If you heard something, it was because I wanted you to hear it."

_Wow. Talk about full of yourself._

"It's also rude to talk as if the universe revolves around you," Kazemaru spoke up; his brown eyes were filled with anger.

"Oh, but it does." Kidou could've sworn he saw a flash of pain in her eyes.

"Oi, you two aren't helping us concentrate." Rel was now sitting down, cross-legged, staring down at the preparation page for a hissatsu.

"Aa. We have now ten minutes to finish this if we don't want to go through hell."

There was an ominous silence. Then a voice spoke up from the darkness behind Kidou and Kazemaru.

"What are you talking about? We're already there."

Kidou spun around, not bothering to put a shocked expression on his face. Behind him was the blonde from earlier…Cassandra was it?

She gave Zia and Rel a smirk when she saw them pouring over the pages, "God, you guys are fucking lame, I finished my prep about five minutes ago."

"Go to hell, Exotica."

"Why do you pop up at random places?" Kazemaru was pissed at the girls in the school and their weird ability to appear at almost every place, at almost any time. As if they were stalking him. As if they didn't have anything better to do than to chase a girly, homo, hair-obsessed Endou-obsessed freak.

"Ah, Kidou-san!" Cass' smirk grew wider as she saw Kidou's slightly blushing and pissed off expression as he remembered what had happened earlier, "Let me introduce you to these two."

"I'm sure he doesn't care, Cassandra-san."

"_I_ could care less, Exotica."

"This one," Cass pointed at the caramel-haired girl, ignoring the profanities spilling out of her mouth, "Is Zalika Taj, known by the name Zia. She's one of our midfielders, and the best game strategist we have, apart from Captain. She's the daughter of the South African ambassadors to Japan."

"And her," Cass moved her finger to point at the girl with dirty blonde hair, "She's Raelene Melba, known as Rel, for kami knows why. Her parents are Australian astro-physicists who have moved to Japan. She's another midfielder, and though she may not look like it, she's another gamemaker."

For one second there was silence. For ONE **measly** _little_ second…

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO IMPLY?"

"Nothing…"

"SHUT UP I CAN SEE YOUR EVILNESS BEHIND THAT INNOCENT SMIRK OF YOURS!"

"Both of you shut up, unlike you two; I don't want to run 100 laps around the soccer court in under five minutes, SO LET ME STUDY IN PEACE!"

"Why are we fighting each other? It's that bitch who does this to us!"

"Don't call my mother a bitch, Raelene."

Kidou tightened his fists and clenched his teeth. He already knew who it was, simply by the way she spoke, her emotionless voice, her utter apathy.

**[A/N: Bet you ten bucks that it's Alex!]**

He turned around to find Aldena Alexandra staring at him.

**[A/N: HA YOU OWE ME TEN BUCKS, SUCKERS!]**

* * *

><p>"Hey there, you look cute." Natsumi turned around for what seemed to be the millionth time, glaring at the boy behind her. He had on the black cloak that everyone else wore, except his hood was pulled up, allowing her to only see the bottom half of his face. He wore a slightly amused expression.<p>

"Thanks. Next time you try flirting with girls, get better pick-up lines," Natsumi irritably continued walking down the hall, ignoring the majority of the student population who were staring at her as if she was an alien. Oh, wait; it was commonplace to see an alien now. Scratch that, as if she was…a vampire! And sparkled!

**[A/N: …My imagination is running quite low…]**

"You seem lost." To Natsumi's utmost annoyance, the boy was hell-bent on staying with her.

"I'm not. Now, GO AWAY."

"Come on, I can show you where you're going."

"I. AM. NOT. LOST."

"Then why are you trying to go through the door to the boy's bathroom?"

Natsumi jerked her hand back from the doorknob as if it was on fire. She scooted back ten feet, staring at the door as if it was contaminated, her face heating up and doing a passable imitation of a tomato. She narrowed her eyes and turned back to the boy next to her, who was smirking arrogantly.

She now noticed some of his features. He had spiky black hair with dark blue highlights which stuck out in the back like the…um…posterior side…of…certain fowl… His eyes were onyx black, but whenever the light glanced off of them, they flashed blood red. He also had pale skin. Like death pale. Like OMFG-he's-dead pale…

He was wearing the standard black shirt and silver shorts that everyone else was, with the silver Greek-style sandals. Unlike before, his hood wasn't covering his face, allowing her to complete the picture.

He. Was. _So_. Damn. Hot.

The boy's smirk grew even wider as he saw her staring at him. Shaking his head in mock disapproval, he chuckled, "Now why would I try and flirt with girls when they just fall at my feet?"

Natsumi couldn't even reply. She just stood there, completely stunned, as the boy's smirk grew bigger. She couldn't form a coherent thought while looking at his shirt stretched tight against…was that a six-pack?

"I see you've met our resident playboy."

Natsumi didn't turn around to look at the new voice, yet continued to stare at the boy. The boy's smirk stayed the same; however, she could see some vengeance added to it.

"Hn."

"Honestly, Noriaki, don't you have a vocabulary that exceeds ten words?"

"…Hn."

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"Calm down, Cali…"

"Hn…"

"Now you're irritating me, Sugiyama."

"Really, Chi-_chan_?"

"Or maybe we'll just call your brother, Hideo."

Natsumi wasn't sure how it happened. There were two girls talking behind her, and Noriaki's smirk growing wider as he replied with that…could you even call it a word? The next second, there was a huge gust next to her, and Noriaki was no longer in front of her.

She turned around. There, Noriaki had a murderous look on his face, as if he was about to kill someone. His hand was outstretched, two inches from one of the girl's face, while encased in her palm. She looked utterly calm, as if she had gorgeous guys try to punch her in the face every day.

The other girl, on the other hand, grinned evilly at the sight of the boy. His face was so cold, it could have frozen fire.

The first girl had silver hair cut into a bob, framing her caramel colored face. Expressionless jasper eyes met furious blood red ones. She had on the silver top and black shorts that Natsumi identified as The Hunters' uniform. She was wearing a simple pair of black flats.

The other girl was similarly dressed, except she had on silver socks and black spikes. Her pink hair was tied into a side ponytail that came over her shoulder. Her jade eyes showed sadistic amusement.

"Now, now, what have I told you about playing nice?" There, behind the silver-haired girl was a familiar figure with braided brown hair and emerald eyes.

Reluctantly, Noriaku removed his fist, returning it to his side before shooting a look of disdain towards the silver-haired girl.

Toni came up and looked at Natsumi, "You're one of the managers, right?"

Natsumi pulled herself together to answer affirmative.

"Ah. Well, guess I have to do the instructions. This girl," Toni said, pointing at the silver-haired girl, "Is Chione Ebonique. Her name is kinda contradictory. She hates the name Chi, so we all call her that. Her mother is descended from Cleopatra herself, while her father is the Japanese ambassador to Egypt."

Chi didn't even respond with a _'Hi' _but instead chose to stare, her jasper eyes boring holes through Natsumi's crimson ones.

"And this one," Toni inclined her head towards the pink-haired girl, "Is Caliana Guadalupe. She's easy to piss off, but dangerous if you do. She's also the daughter of a Saudi Arabian princess; her father is a Japanese oil tycoon. We call her Cali for short, cuz her name sounds princessy."

Cali narrowed her eyes at the last line and mumbled something along the lines of _'Why the hell do I have to be so girly, never wanted to be a princess, stupid parents have to be fucking rich…'_

"And this flirtatious, albeit handsome, boy is Sugiyama Noriaki. He's the Prince of Artemis Academy. His parents were top government spies before they died. One thing you should never mention in front of him is his step-brother, Takashi Hideo. There are rumors that Hideo was involved in his parents' deaths and Noriaki gets pissed at the mention of his name."

"And I suggest you keep your mouth shut if you don't want to end up in the hospital, Blacé," Noriaki retorted with a glare so cold the temperature dropped by at least ten degrees.

"I leave you to your new toy, Noriaki," Toni smirked, "Chi, Cali; we have two minutes to get on the field. You two finished prep?"

"Hai."

"Who do you think I am?"

"Ja ne," Toni waved a hand in parting before leaving with the other two girls.

"So it's just you and me then." Natsumi almost fainted when she turned back around to find Noriaki's face an inch from hers, his husky breath on her neck.

* * *

><p>"Who is she?"<p>

"Never seen her before."

"A new girl?"

"Nah. Look at the rags she's wearing, she could never afford this school."

"School? You mean hellhole."

"Whatever, Watanabe, we all hate it here."

"She's probably part of that group that came."

"What group?"

"So now we're a tourist attraction?"

"Watanabe…"

"Come one, come all. Step up to see the richest heirs of Japan go through torture!"

"Watanabe!"

"No, you see, I heard that the Raimon Eleven came to challenge The Hunters."

"They're dead meat."

"Tell me about it. They're going to be carried out of here on a stretcher."

Aki hurried down the hallway, trying to ignore the whispers and snatches of conversation she heard. They weren't eating till eight so she thought she might so a bit of searching and find out some information on The Hunters. _Big mistake._

Everywhere she went, rumors followed her and she had to keep her head lowered to cover the red flush that covered her face in anger at their comments.

"Whoa there, watch out!" Aki looked up. In front of her was another Artemis Academy student. He was wearing the boys' uniform, and his hood was pulled up, leaving only the bottom of his face visible. His hands were held in front of him to stop from bumping into her, while he had a mildly amused expression on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry," She bowed, trying not to blush.

"It's okay," the boy offered her his hand, "I'm Takashi Hideo. It's a pleasure."

"Kino Aki, I'm a manager of the Raimon Eleven," Aki shook his hand.

"Raimon huh?" Hideo smiled at her, "I have a bet going with my foolish _otouto_ that Raimon's going to beat the Hunters, but he doesn't think like that."

"Oh, uh, thanks," Aki looked down to keep her face from heating up.

"Hey, Hideo," a singsong voice came from behind him. Peering around the mysterious senpai curiously, Aki found two girls standing there. One had curly blond hair tied up with a ribbon and bright green eyes dancing with happiness. She had on the Hunters soccer uniform but was barefoot and practically dancing on the balls of her feet with excitement.

"Hey, there, Lili," Hideo said, turning to the girl and kissing her on the lips.

"For the love of God, get a room," the second girl grumbled. She had on what looked to be the goalkeeper's uniform, and was wearing soccer cleats, with an exhausted expression in her silver eyes. Her black hair reached her shoulders and was highlighted with purple.

Hideo turned away from Lili, his hood having fallen down, Aki could finally get a glimpse at his face. He had pale skin, with long black hair in a ponytail and red eyes. He had a gentle smile on his face and his eyes were full of amusement.

"You must be a manager right?" the peppy blonde girl asked, "Of Raimon? The school my boyfriend is betting for?" Hideo smiled and ruffled her hair at this.

"Um, yeah."

"Hi, I'm Liliana Wen, a midfielder of the Hunters," she said, smiling with an expression that reminded Aki of Endou.

"And I'm Xandra Olexa, goalkeeper of the Hunters, but call me Xene," the black-haired girl said, "And the only reason this idiotic girl is so damn happy is because she gets to see her boyfriend."

Hideo smiled, "Lili is the daughter of a powerful Chinese businessman and her mother is one of the Security Police of the Prime Minister. That's how we met. And Xene is the heiress of Olexa Industries, whose headquarters are in Tokyo."

"Oh, hey, do you want to see our practice!" Lili lit up again. Hideo and Xene just sighed and shook their heads.

Aki gave a tentative smile despite Isa's warnings, "I'd love to."

When she arrived at the Mount Olympus field, Aki gasped. It was now lit up by the huge spotlights that surrounded the field. Also there, she could see Kurimatsu, Megane, Domon and Ichinose. Then, Kazemaru was there, along with Zia and Rel. Natsumi was also there, accompanied by a boy with spiky black hair that let out a hiss at the sight of Hideo. Then she could see Haruna, who was talking to Isa and Angel.

"I'll have to go before my foolish _otouto_, Noriaki, bites my head off," Hideo joked, "Ja ne, ladies."

Aki went and took a seat while the Hunters assembled on the field.

By the time the clock struck eight, Aki would have witnessed horrors and the atrocity of soccer played by these eleven girls.

* * *

><p>NaCl: FINISHED! YAY!<p>

Hiroto: (dark aura) If NaCl-chan doesn't get ten reviews, she won't update the next chapter.


	10. As Sweet As Roses

I'm bored…and I want some ice cream…chocolate maybe? …with whipped cream and cookies…and hot fudge…well, my life is boring…waiting for my results…doing nothing at home but reading fanfics…life is good.

* * *

><p><strong>As Sweet As Roses<strong>

Kidou tossed and turned in his deluxe queen-size bed. No matter how soft it was, he just couldn't seem to get any sleep. It was nearly midnight, and Kidou couldn't get the words that a horrified Natsumi had said, out of his head. _'They play only to win the game. They don't care what happens, even if their body self-destructs, as long as they win. They are all replaceable in the mind of the coach.'_

He threw off the covers, trying to find a comfortable position, then finally gave up. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, and turned on the light. Blinking a few times while his eyes got used to the light, he stood up, surveying the room. He could always grab a midnight snack and turn on the TV, but he was still full from the meal the managers had prepared. After hearing Natsumi's words, he was in no way in the mood for TV.

Sighing, he threw on a black T-shirt and silver Bermuda shorts that were in the chest of drawers. Artemis Academy sure knew how to treat its guests. He looked at his cleats, then decided against it, wearing a simple pair of silver flip flops provided. _Even soccer can't cure my troubles today._

Peering out of his room to see if anyone else was awake, he slowly walked towards the main hallway leading to the chandelier room. Maybe some walking could cure his tension.

However, five minutes later, Kidou found himself in a set of corridors he had never seen, and the acrid taste of smoke in his mouth. He scrunched up his nose and continued walking, seeing the light of stars up ahead. On reaching it, he found that it was covered in debris. He could still spot the few stars dancing out of reach in a small hole near the ceiling. Jumping, he caught hold of an outstretched beam before swinging himself up, twisting to get out of the corridor.

As soon as he emerged into the night, he realized where he was. Currently, he was standing on what used to be the secondary building. Hopping down, he continued towards the garden, hoping that no one was awake.

* * *

><p>It was only after a few turns and corners that once again, Kidou realized he was lost. Sure, he had looked around the grounds a little bit, but they were extensive, and everything looked different in the moonlight. He turned up towards it, noting that it was a full moon, to his relief. He was just about to turn and retrace his steps when a voice remarked from the darkness behind him, "Beautiful, isn't it?"<p>

Kidou went into shock. The voice was oh-so-familiar, but not, at the same time. Familiar, as that was the voice that he used to hear, as a child, long ago, before it mutated into what he expected to hear today. But no, right now, with him, Alex's voice was the same pure, innocent, beautiful voice that he had known in the orphanage. Before it became the apathetic voice he flinched at.

She came to stand next to him, gazing at the moon, just like he was. He looked down at her. Tilted towards the moon, in the darkness of the night, her face was unguarded, revealing her secrets. Alone with him, she felt no need to put up the cold mask that he saw through.

She looked at him, a faint smile on her face as she saw him scrutinizing her. Finally, he returned the smile, "I wouldn't call it beautiful. Not with you standing here in comparison."

She laughed then, the pealing sound banishing the darkness, a song so pure and innocent that Kidou had trouble to resist the temptation to confess to her right then and there.

"Reading romance novels, now…_Yuu-kun_?" she teased, waving one finger in front of her face.

A smile instantly graced Kidou's face with the mention of her old bygone nickname for him. She really hadn't changed at all, only she kept up the façade.

"In my defense, Haruna talked me into it," Kidou replied, eyes following that hypnotic finger as it waved in front of her face. He had the sudden urge to do something really stupid, like lick it.

He saw the moonlight flash off of her silver coronet, embedded into her black hair. Instinctively, they moved closer. Kidou noted with satisfaction that he was at least three inches taller than her now, much better than before, when she towered over him.

Alex turned, looking into his eyes with an intense expression as they both consciously moved closer. Alex was now looking up into his eyes; they were scarcely five inches apart.

"I wanted to tell you something, the day I left," Alex breathed. Kidou silently observed the planes of her face, absorbing each detail of the flawless skin.

"Every day, I regret not able to tell you. Every day I wake up with a pain so fierce, I just want to curl up and die. A pain, here," Alex softly said, taking Kidou's hand and placing it on her heart.

"I watched you every day on TV when you played in both the Soccer Frontiers. I saw you battle Gemini Storm. My heart ached every time. All because of the three words I couldn't tell you seven years ago." Kidou could feel Alex's heartbeat accelerate underneath his hand. Unconsciously, they moved closer, only two inches separated his face from hers. He dropped his hand, and listened silently, looking into her eyes.

"I…" Kidou could see a strange emotion in those coal eyes. "I love you, Yuu-kun." _It was love._

For a second Kidou was too shocked to speak. When he was seven, he had a small crush on Alex. However, over the years, it had blossomed into something much more. But he never expected that Alex would reciprocate his feelings.

Alex seemed heartbroken by his lack of response. She stared at the ground fidgeting, "I mean, I understand if you don't feel the same way, but I just wanted to tell you." Tears started brimming at the corners of her eyes.

Suddenly, she felt a pressure on her chin, forcing her to look up. She saw Kidou looking down at her, his goggles preventing her from seeing his eyes.

"Foolish girl," he murmured, before lightly, gently, softly pressing his lips against hers.

They broke away a few seconds later. Alex was panting, shocked by this response. "Does that mean you love me too?" she asked, hope charging every word.

"I don't know," he smirked at her, playing coy. On an impulse, she reached up and removed his goggles. She found herself staring into red eyes that echoed her devotion and love.

"What was that for?" Kidou asked, his voice mock hurt.

She smiled at him, dropping his goggles to the ground as she leaned in again, "I haven't seen your eyes in seven years, Yuu-kun."

Their lips met again, but this kiss was so much more passionate. She responded with the same degree of intensity as Kidou gave. Both of her hands ended up on his shoulders as she pulled him closer, her mouth bruising as it battled with his. His arms wound around her waist, pulling her up, pressing her body against his.

She gasped when she felt his tongue licking at her bruised lips. This was the opening he was waiting for. Without warning, he plunged his tongue into hers. Her knees buckled under the intense kiss. He supported her as his tongue explored every nook and cranny of her mouth. Moaning in ecstasy, she would have melted into a pile of bliss if it wasn't for the fact that Kidou had lifted her by her waist, resulting in the tops of her feet brushing the ground.

They stayed like that for what seemed to be an eternity. The whistling of the wind through the trees, the gurgle of the trees, and the silent whisper of the moon seemed to form an intricate song. They both slowly swayed there, enjoying the time, in what seemed to be a frozen second. As if Time had stopped, just for them.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and Kidou and Alex parted, panting, when they heard the shrill note of a whistle in the distance.

Alex huffed, trying to regain her breath, "I…have…practice."

Kidou looked at her in disapproval, "Which mother tortures her own daughter?"

Alex faintly smiled in reminiscence of a long ago memory before saying, "I'll explain some other time, Yuu-kun, but I have to go to practice now."

Kidou looked at her once, his expression something akin to drowning in pain, "This isn't a dream right? I mean…you seemed so…"

"Cold?" Alex laughed, "No, this isn't a dream. I seemed cold, because that is the mask I am forced to wear. All of us, the only way to conceal our pain, the only way to remain _sane_ is to pretend like it doesn't affect us. To pretend like it never happened."

"But-" Kidou started to say, protesting how unfair it was, when the shrill whistle rang again, this time more demanding.

"I really have to go," Alex said pressing her lips against his in a chaste kiss, "I'll see you tomorrow, Yuu-kun."

He was left staring at her back, the smile she graced him with when she turned to leave, still on his mind.

* * *

><p>NaCl: Awww…I love fluff…and yes, it is très cliché but I <em>had<em> to include it…

Kidou: (dark aura) I did what?

NaCl: (ignores him) And even though most of us blast fluff, deep down we love it…I wish a guy would do that to me…(goes off into romantic fantasies with hearts in her eyes)

Hiroto: …

Lil bro: (rolls his eyes) If you were waiting for the opportune moment…that was it.

NaCl: Excuse my brother, he's watched too much Pirates of the Caribbean…

Lil bro: You know the rules of the game, ten reviews a day, keep the chapters coming!


	11. As Deadly As Its Thorns

NaCl: I'm in the mood for a rant…but there's nothing to rant about…my life is soo boring…damn…I'm almost wishing that we still had exams, key word: _almost_.

Lil bro: Yeah, nothing in heaven or hell will make you go through that two months of torture again, right?

NaCl: (evil grin) Yes…but that just means I get to watch you suffer!

Hiroto: Why do I have such a sadistic girlfriend? (looks heavenward)

Kidou: (shakes head) Women…

Haruna: (death aura) And just what is that supposed to mean?

Disclaimer: I've just realized I haven't done a disclaimer in awhile! Well, what to say, what to say…hmm, I totally wish I'm getting paid for writing these fanfics…I could get that dark chocolate that I'm dying for…

Endou: (looks skeptical) You call that a disclaimer?

NaCl: (pouty face) Shut up!

* * *

><p><strong>As Deadly As Its Thorns<strong>

Alex ran back to the locker room, wincing as, yet again, a sharp whistle pervaded the air. Quickly lacing up her cleats, she stopped for two seconds she didn't have to straighten her hair and look at herself. Her lips were plump and red, and she didn't think that was going to get past the notice of her mother. Hastily, she applied a shade of chapstick, sighing with relief as it turned her lips back to normal color. As she heard the whistle sound for the fourth time, she breathed in and out, slowly composing her ice-cold mask, broken for the first time in seven years.

She jogged back on the field just as the fifth whistle rang. Her mother, the coach was already there, pacing back and forth, a dark shadow on her face. It took a lot to get the kantoku in a bad mood, and it boded ill for all if something got her pissed off.

She quickly stepped in line next to Toni, who was co-captain. She, quietly, softly, always a whisper, always diplomatic, muttered under her breath, so low that Alex would've assumed she was breathing, "What pissed the bitch off this time?"

Alex stared at the ground, a small up-and-down movement of her shoulders. Toni knew what it meant, they had been on the same team for so long, they had memorized each other's way of communicating without letting THE BITCH aka Coach Meiko, know.

Alex's heart rate sped up as she wondered what could make her mother so angry. She touched her lips and allowed a small flash of wonder to pass on her face. _Damn…I never knew Kidou was so good at kissing or I would've hunted him down a long time ago!_

However, when she looked back up, she felt the air go ten degrees colder and the blood freeze in her veins.

Her. Mother. Was. Staring. _Right_. At. Her.

Alex gulped, grateful for the separation between them. She was also grateful to the third-year, Takashi Hideo, who, when she came here as a seven-year-old, taught her how to control her emotions, how to craft a mask. Years of practice made wearing the mask so comfortable, it took a gargantuan effort to let her guard down around Kidou, to trust him.

Little did she know, the said boy was watching her practice, crouching in a darkened corner of the stadium.

The kantoku's gaze shifted, and Alex turned, apathetic as always to see Xene and Lili hurrying towards them. Hurrying might be an overstatement, they were limping and trying not to collapse.

"As Xandra and Liliana have finally decided to grace us with their presence, we can start practice." _Uh-oh._ Every girl could hear the warning bells sounded by the kantoku's sarcasm and dark aura. "And I'm sure both would be kind enough to demonstrate the exercise."

Xene and Lili took one look at Meiko's glare and gulped. Giving each other a shaky reassuring gaze they both walked onto the field. Meiko lightly kicked the ball till it stopped at the half-court line, "Xandra, at half court. Liliana, penalty line. You will attempt ten shots at the basket, Liliana, you will defend. No hissatsus."

Alex and the rest winced when the coach blew her whistle, signaling Xene to start. It wasn't going to be pretty. Xene was the goalkeeper, and Lili was the midfielder, neither would fare well at the position they were at.

It was, however, Cassandra who expressed her frustration first, "They're both going to get killed at the rate they're going!"

When Alex reflected back, she realized this was the point everything began to go wrong. If only she or Toni had clamped a hand over the blonde's mouth…

"I swear, Miss High-and-Mighty is going to get charged under homicide one of these days. And they say that she's a traitor to her family, too," Cass spat out the darkened words.

Inside, Alex knew everything had gone terribly wrong. She knew first-hand, her mother's impeccable hearing and around Meiko, her family was taboo.

Meiko put up a hand, signaling Xene to stop. She turned around to the nine of them waiting, a sugar-sweet smile on her face, "Mind repeating what you just said, Cassandra?"

There was no response from the blonde girl, instead she stared, shocked at Meiko. "Xandra, Liliana, off the field," she said in the same honeyed tone, "Cassandra, Flora, on."

Mutely Cass and Flo got on the field. They went as directed, Cass to the half court line, Flo to the penalty line. It was a even match-up and a pretty interesting one, too. Cass was the best striker, second only to Toni. Flo was the second defender to Alex.

"Cassandra, I want you to score, no hissatsus," she then turned to Flo, "Flora, I want you to block using Gaia's Fury."

A gasp echoed throughout the stadium. It wasn't from one person of course, but from all of them, all except the black-eyed captain who looked into the coach's eyes. Apparently she didn't find what she wanted to see, so she averted her eyes to the ground.

Cassandra was turning ashen. They all knew the destructive power of Flora's most powerful hissatsu. Some more than others. Flora herself was turning white. She had never used Gaia's Fury before on anyone who hadn't enabled a hissatsu to lessen the damage.

"Start!" A cruel, sadistic smirk curled Meiko's lips. Hidden deep in the shadows, Kidou shuddered as he saw the expression of vicious glee on her face.

Cassandra shot forward with a light of determination. When she was about ten feet from the penalty line, Flora closed her eyes, as if truly sorry for what she was going to do. She brought one hand slashing down in front of her, muttering, "Gaia's Fury!"

Meiko watched as rocks and various debris erupted from the ground in front of Flora. It hovered in front of her before shooting forward towards a pale Cassandra. When the smoke cleared, they saw the blonde girl curled up on the ground in the fetal position, hands futilely guarding herself, groaning.

Meiko's eyes were on the ball, which came to rest in front of her. Ignoring her daughter's glare, which was boring holes in her back, she kicked it to the girl on the ground, writhing with pain. "Again."

Toni whirled on Alex who was staring calmly at Cassandra who stood up shakily and began dribbling again.

The ace striker watched her captain with poison in her eyes when Cassandra got pounded into the ground again, "Why aren't you _doing_ anything?"

A smirk graced the mask of Alex, "You of all people should know me best."

Meiko didn't give any indication that she heard the girls' conversation but raised one hand to a grateful Cassandra and turned around.

Toni stiffened at the sadistic smirk twisting Meiko's face. Alex didn't do anything, but her mask froze, mirroring her mother's smirk.

"Antonia, would you like to take her place?" Meiko said, her dark eyes plotting something.

Toni maintained her dead face, "Hai, _kantoku_." Everyone could hear the venom seeping through her words and everyone agreed. Meiko couldn't be called their coach when she made them go through torture of which hasn't been seen before. The only reason they followed her was because their captain for seven years straight, Alex, followed her. No one could fathom the mind of Kira Alexandra though.

"Alright. Cassandra off, Toni on," here Meiko paused as if deciding what to do next, "Flora off."

Toni, who had passed a limping Cassandra, paused, looking at Meiko, as did everyone else. Toni was their ace striker, and Flora was their second-best striker. If she took Flora out, there was no one at Toni's level, except…

Everyone seemed to reach the realization at the same time as Meiko stared coolly at Alex who walked forward, taking Flora's place. There was nothing on her face, no arrogant look, no smirk, no inkling of horror, of disgust.

Everyone watched Alex, who like a robot took her place. Everyone except Kidou, who breathed a half-strangled, "No…"

It was enough for Alex to hear. Her eyes darted to the shadows and stayed there for one second, before switching back.

"Oh, and to make this training a bit more _challenging_," Meiko said in a sugary sweet tone, "Alexandra will use Flash Fire."

Toni's gasp reached the stars, the other girls echoing her. Alex just got into a defensive position, not paying attention to Toni's pleading look to stop it now.

Toni took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She darted forward a few steps then spun, fire crackling around her with every twirl. Opening her eyes, she kicked the ball, and watched as it sped towards the goal, and Alex, fire dancing behind it.

Alexandra, meanwhile, had closed her eyes, a small smile toying on her lips. She extended her right hand to the left and brought it back in a scything motion, "Flash Fire!"

Instantly, huge flames roared up before her, like a wave. They advanced across the field, stopping the soccer ball with a few sparks, then growing, higher and higher. _It was a wave and it was about to break_.

Kidou could only look in horror. He knew the tragedy of Alex's past, and he knew more than anything else, that the fire that burned down her house, her parents, her perfect life, had affected her more than anything else. Ever since she was five, she had been diagnosed with severe pyrophobia, she fell into a coma the minute she set on eye on flames.

And right now, flames dancing around her and advancing on a helpless Toni, was the worst place for Kira Alexandra to be.

Toni could only run backwards out of fear as the flames twirled higher, higher. It was rushing out of control as Alex had yet to open her eyes. The only way to fully master this hissatsu was to concentrate one's eyes on the flames. They knew Alex's past. Meiko knew Alex's past. And yet she was still making her do this. Toni would have liked to know the reason why a _mother_ would do this to her own daughter. Toni stumbled and fell onto the ground as the flames towered twenty feet above her. They started to fall and Toni did the only rational thing: she screamed.

On the other side of the field, Alex's eyes snapped open.

The flames disappeared with a lot of smoke. Toni half-supported herself up, watching what every other person in the stadium was watching, Kidou included; Alex was swaying alarmingly on her feet. At the sidelines, Meiko wasn't even looking concerned, she had a look of what appeared to be disappointment.

Kidou's watch beeped. He took one half-second he didn't have to glance at it. _2:00am._

He looked back just in time to see Alex collapse.

* * *

><p>NaCl: I have what appears to be the most foolish brother in the world.<p>

Hiroto: (confused) Another rant?

Lil bro: (dark aura) Stop that!

NaCl: (sickly sweet smile) What did you want, O foolish brother of mine?

Lil bro: Nee-san…

NaCl: Why don't you go and amuse yourself elsewhere, O foolish brother of mine?

Lil bro: (death glare) Why don't you stick a-

NaCl: (dark aura + sickly sweet smile = girl's patented glare) Language, O foolish brother of mine.

Hiroto: What are you doing?

NaCl: (smirks) I'm using what I call the 'Itachi' technique.

Hiroto: …Didn't Itachi die?

NaCl: I'm trying to avoid that part of the technique.

Hiroto: Didn't he kill his entire clan?

NaCl: And that part, too.

Lil bro: Wasn't he a boy?

NaCl: Oh, forgive me, O foolish brother of mine, another time.

Hiroto: (looks heavenward) What did I do to deserve this?


	12. Looks Can Be Decieving

NaCl: …I…don't even have the motivation to write this, so don't blame me if it sucks…I wanna watch some clouds…

Disclaimer: …I own Inazuma Eleven, Midori-chan is going to die, Fudou and Haruna are getting married, Gouenji gets hit by a soccer ball and Hiroto proclaims his love for me.

NaCl: (watching clouds) Hmm…that one looks like a cross between a buffalo that accidently took steroids and got amputated and a dolphin who got flattened by a steamroller and mutilated by a shark…

Lil bro: Nee-chan…that's an airplane…

* * *

><p><strong>Looks Can Be Deceiving<strong>

Kidou was pissed.

Everyone could tell, even Endou, from the way he stabbed the pancakes the managers had made for breakfast and the permanent scowl etching his face.

Concerned, Kazemaru asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Kidou all but snarled out. Taking a deep breath, he abruptly got up, leaving his breakfast, and left the room, stomping down the hall.

Hitomiko's eyebrows twitched into a frown.

Haruna got up and gave a calm smile to Kazemaru's worried expression, "I'll talk to him."

It was when everyone heard Haruna crying and the sound of a door slamming shut, that everyone stared, aghast, at the now empty corridor.

Even Hitomiko looked worried.

* * *

><p>It was now ten, and Raimon was now practicing on one of the indoor fields. At the moment though, Endou, Kazemaru and Natsumi were watching the Hunters practice on the center field.<p>

"They don't look like they're getting along, do they?" Kazemaru murmured. The team was splitting up into groups of two who were shouting at the coach and not practicing.

"They're fighting," Natsumi observed, "And their captain seems to be missing."

"This would work to our advantage if we didn't have a similar situation," Hitomiko came up behind them and watched too.

"What do you mean, kantoku?" Endou asked.

"Kidou is missing. Haruna locked herself in her room and won't stop crying. Aki, Domon and Ichinose are trying to persuade Haruna to come out. Fubuki and Someoka have gone to search for Kidou, and the rest of the team…" Hitomiko trailed off as she looked at the team.

Kurimatsu and Kabeyama were yelling at each other about something. Megane was flashing his glasses and proclaiming something to which no one seemed to be listening. Touko was yelling at the three of them to start practice.

"Our team is in shambles," Kazemaru narrowed his eyes.

"Yes," Hitomiko nodded, "We need Kidou back."

* * *

><p>The said gamemaker was on the Mount Olympus field, trying to get rid of the vivid pictures of this morning by destroying the soccer net. He kicked another ball, imagining it to have Meiko's face. It landed in the center of the net, spinning furiously.<p>

After Alex had collapsed, he had seen Toni run towards her and frantically shake her, trying to get her to wake. Meiko had just calmly walked off the field, telling them that they were dismissed.

He had seen the entire team try to wake her up, but he knew it was a lost cause. When Alex was three, her house was lit on fire because of some mafia members who didn't get what they wanted. Alex was the only one who survived; she had to see her mother and father die in front of her, the flames turning their bodies into ash. She had to hear her brother's screams for help, knowing there was no way to save him.

This had scarred her for life, and the doctors diagnosed her with severe pyrophobia when she first fell into a coma at five. The only way to come out of the coma was through extensive adrenaline injections and still then, there were chances of her being brain-dead. At the orphanage they had been very careful not to have candles near her. And now, her own goddamn _mother_ forcefully pushes her into the coma!

Another ball swished into the net, releasing Kidou's pent-up frustrations.

It puzzled Kidou why someone would create such an extensive flame hissatsu which could only be controlled by opening the eyes, if said person falls into a coma every time they look at fire.

Girls were the most complicated species on this planet.

Kidou kicked the ball one last time before falling to his knees, panting. It was almost ten now, which left five hours to the match. Now more than ever he wanted to crush the Hunters and wipe that arrogant smirk off of Meiko's face. He needed to go back to the team.

* * *

><p>First he knocked on Haruna's door, and was worried when he was met with a '<em>GO AWAY!<em>' Softly telling her that it was him, he watched as she opened the door, her eyes red, her cheeks tear-stained.

Five minutes later, he walked onto the field, past the Hunters and up to the team. He had smoothed things over with Haruna and Fubuki, Someoka, Ichinose, Domon and Aki were behind him.

The first thing he was met with was an angry Natsumi, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR KIDOU!"

Kidou winced at the high pitch voice and said calmly, just like he rehearsed, "This morning, I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd watch the Hunters practice. When I was there…" his face contorted and Natsumi nodded understandingly.

"We forgive you, Kidou," Kazemaru smiled, "But we need some strategies."

Kidou turned and looked at the Hunters, whose practice was going terribly. He watched as Meiko failed to control them and smirked.

"None of them wants to play under a coach like her," Kidou said, indicating Meiko, "But the only reason they do so is because the captain does so. However, their captain isn't there, and is out of commission for the game." Endou and the rest stared at him curiously, wondering how he knew this.

"Therefore, their kantoku's power is decreasing. Also, the girls in the team seemed to have formed pairs of friends. The only thing holding them together is Alex. If she's gone, their entire teamwork is gone."

"That seems too easy to defeat," Touko frowned.

"You're right," Kidou acknowledged, "After all, these are soldiers raised to sacrifice themselves for soccer. Chances are they'll work as one in the game. However, the discord will still be there, and that is where we should aim our attacks."

"But then how are we going to win?" Kabeyama asked.

"In the first half, we focus on weakening their teamwork and their stamina. Don't give it your full effort, give enough so that they will give their all. Don't let the point difference exceed ten."

"Wait a minute!" Endou yelled, "Why should we even let the point difference _reach_ ten?"

"Endou," Kidou said, "Save your strength. We attack with everything in the second half, when they will be weakened. By doing so, we will take points easier than they took from us. Also, giving such a big lead will surely lower their guard."

"Kidou-kun is right," Hitomiko said, surprising everyone, "Follow his instructions and you can very easily win the game. I know Meiko's style; midway through the second quarter, none of her players will be able to play. As Kidou said, just don't let the point difference exceed ten. And Fubuki, Someoka," she turned to the two strikers, "Weaken down their goalkeeper to the point she can no longer stand. Endou, don't let more than ten go through, and stop the ones that don't require a lot of energy. Midfielders and defenders, wear them down by playing offense. Don't bother with defense just keep on pushing for offense, it will eventually wear them down."

They all nodded, grim. The fate of the universe rested on them, after all.

* * *

><p>"All right, we are all here to witness the spectacular match between the Raimon Eleven that defeated Aliea Academy's second-rank team and winner of this year's Soccer Frontier, and the Hunters, silver rank of Artemis Academy and the pride and joy of the school!" a second-year girl was sitting in the commenter's booth, a forced smile on her face. She muttered in the microphone, "Now I would really like to go do homework if Miss High-And-Mighty didn't threaten me."<p>

She cleared her throat as if her last comment, which left many of the students piling into the bleachers snicker, didn't exist, "I'm Maou and I'm reporting from the Mount Olympus field which currently holds the fate of the champions of universe. Both the Hunters and Raimon Eleven are fighting for the chance to take down Epsilon!"

Far, far away, in a darkened room, a TV was lit up from the recording from Artemis Academy. One of the people sitting there chuckled, "Sure do think highly of us, huh, Gran?"

Gran ignored Desarm and focused on the teams now emerging on the field. He blatantly ignored the Raimon side and concentrated on the Hunters' side.

"On the Hunters we have…goalkeeper Xandra Olexa!" Maou muttered as if she wanted to get this over with, "Defenders, Flora McKenny, Caliana Guadalupe, and Raelene Melba! Midfielders, Vampire Dracula, Chione Ebonique, Liliana Wen, and Zalika Taj! Forwards, Antonia Blacé and Cassandra Exotica! And finally, we have the captain, Kira…"

Maou trailed off as she saw what everyone else saw. After a tight-lipped Cassandra jogged through the stadium, there was nobody else.

"Well, looks like Captain Kira Alexandra, defender extraordinaire is not playing! The Hunters plan to win with only ten players! Talk about underestimating or what?"

At this, everyone on the Hunters shot a death glare at the commenter's booth. Looks like they were touchy about the fact that their captain was missing.

Back in the darkened room, Gran leaned back with a sigh.

"Kira, huh?" Desarm remarked, "That means she's your niece, Gran. That's just sick if you want her to be her girlfriend-" Desarm cut off as he met Gran's green-blue eyes.

"Are you perhaps forgetting who you're talking to?" Gran asked, his tone icy-cold.

"N-Not a-at a-all, G-Gran-sama," Desarm stuttered, mentally berating himself on talking so casually to the captain of Genesis.

"Good," Gran smirked, "Now let's watch Endou-kun play."

"Gran, you sound so gay when you say that," a familiar snarky voice entered the room.

"Oh, like you don't sound gay when you formed the threat Desarm was supposed to carry," a sarcastic voice retorted back at him, icily calm.

"Urusai," Gran muttered, his eyes focused on the screen. The Hunters had won the coin toss and were preparing for the kick-off.

"Alright, Gran, we'll stop talking so you can watch your boyfriend in peace," Burn smirked. Gazel just rolled his eyes.

* * *

><p>Two hours and forty-five minutes later, there were only 11 players still standing on the field.<p>

The stadium was dead silent, but it was an oppressive silence, weighing on each and every one.

The scoreboard showed, 13 – 13.

Raimon Junior High had won.

But no one felt like celebrating.

Endou was leaning on the goalpost, unable to support his own weight, watching the field with a gloomy expression on his face. Fubuki was staring at the ten lumps on the field, his expression one of horror. Kidou was trying very hard not to throw up.

All the other ten players of The Hunters were lying on the ground in various states of unconsciousness. They had fallen, one by one, after the second half started. By the time there was only five minutes left, none of the opposing team was standing, Raimon won by default.

But the worst part? Meiko, sitting on the bench with a horrified Isa and Angel, had a sadistically gleeful expression on her face.

As if she was actually _happy_ that ten girls would never be able to play soccer again, hell, never even be able to _walk_ properly.

Kidou felt his stomach churning when he realized that was exactly what they did at Artemis Academy.

Even Hitomiko looked vaguely disgusted as she stared at her sister.

After ten long minutes, Maou's voice came once again over the speakers, but this time, she sounded shocked and repulsed, unlike the earlier sarcasm.

"As The Hunters are unable to play, Raimon Junior High wins by default…" her voice trailed off. Meiko stood up, sending a dark smirk to Hitomiko before leaving the stadium. She didn't even try and see the damages of her greed for power.

Hitomiko also stood up as Isa and Angel ran to the players, trying to get them to wake up, and calling medical stretchers.

It was that which broke the spell, and Raimon silently turned to leave, going to the locker rooms.

They didn't want to stay another minute in this haunted house of horrors.

* * *

><p>It was nearly six, and everyone was ready to go, packing their stuff back onto the caravan. Isa and Angel had said their goodbyes in small voices and they hadn't seen hide or hair of Meiko. Everyone was still in shock about what happened, so they filed on the bus in silence.<p>

Kidou was second-last to climb on, behind him was Hitomiko. As soon as he was about to get on, however, a voice called out, "Wait a minute, Raimon."

It was only that sickly sweet voice that made Kidou whip around, that made the entire team poke their heads out of the window.

"What do you want, Meiko?" Hitomiko said in a level voice, the dark undertone in her voice did not seem to affect her sister.

"Well, the game was a tie," Meiko smirked, "Therefore, I want to add one of my players to your team."

"None of your players will be able to play soccer again," Kidou snapped.

"Not quite true." Kidou's eyes widened at that voice, turning to the girl half hidden in the shadows with Meiko.

He saw the piercing onyx eyes. He saw the raven locks fly in the wind. The porcelain face cracked into a smile. The light glinting off something silver embedded in her hair.

"Hello, Yuu-kun."

* * *

><p><em><strong>LE FIN<strong>_

* * *

><p>NaCl: AND IT IS FINISHED! (does victory dance) My first story…it's all grown up now… (sniff, sniff)<p>

Lil bro: Wait…you _finally_ accomplished something?

NaCl: URUSAI! DON'T RUIN MY GOOD MOOD!


End file.
